


The Storybrooke Connection

by ABSedarian



Series: Storybrooke Noir [1]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: 1930s AU, AU, F/F, Film Noir, Mobsters, all that jazz, based on a set of manips I made which you can see in the prologue, but there might be elements of comedy in there too, nightclub singer and pilot, noir story, or are they?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-24
Updated: 2014-06-14
Packaged: 2018-01-05 22:58:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 21
Words: 64,052
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1099575
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ABSedarian/pseuds/ABSedarian
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Film noir AU set in the 1930s. Regina is a nightclub singer, and Emma is an aviator/adventurer. Or are they? What secrets do the women hold? What lies hidden behind the quaint facade of Storybrooke?</p><p>Chapter titles are all songs published in 1934.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I don’t own anything.  
> Author’s Note: This AU story is set in 1934, so the music and songs mentioned are from the period between 1930 and 1934 unless mentioned otherwise.  
> Emma’s plane is a model built by her partner, Marco, but if you want to see what it might look like, you should check out the Stinson Reliant and imagine it as a biplane with staggered wings.  
> I’ll try to stick to what I know of the time but most of it is from all those lovely Hollywood movies. This story is AU, which means there might be moments of OOCness. There’s no magic in this story apart from the magical attraction between Emma and Regina. ;-)  
> I don’t know how often I’ll be able to update. We’ll see how it goes, okay?

 

“We have to do something about the situation in the Northeast, Mr. Cummings.” The voice that came through the telephone sounded tinny.

“What situation?” The Attorney General asked while shuffling some papers around as he looked for a pen to sign the paperwork in front of him.

There was a short pause, then a sigh. “Have you not been briefed about the situation, Mr. Cummings?”

“Should I have?” Mr. Cummings was getting impatient. He had a dinner at the White House to get to and the President _really_ liked punctuality. “Listen, can we make this short? I’m in a hurry.”

The man at the other end of the line chuckled. “Yes, I know,” he said. “Dinner with the President. I will be there too. I’m actually calling from the White House now, I just didn’t think this was appropriate dinner conversation for tonight. At least not all of it.” He drew a breath. “Anyway, in short: we have a serious problem in the Northeast. Guns are coming into the Mid-Atlantic in massive amounts to all the big crime syndicates. Even the Luciano family gets their weapons from this guy. Top of the line guns, rifles, whatever they want. And not just guns, although that is our most pressing problem.”

By now the Attorney General was listening attentively. “Do we have a lead on where the guns enter the country and who’s behind this?”

“Yes sir, we finally pinned it down to a small coastal town in Maine, but whoever’s behind this has managed to stay in the shadows so far. We wanted to ask your approval to send a team of investigators up there … and have that be a BOI operation. It’s a special team, but the New York police doesn’t exactly have jurisdiction up there.”

“Why would I grant your team BOI status? What’s so special about this team? The BOI usually handles these cases, and quite well, Mr. Valentine. They brought in Capone after all.”

“This is … different. The previous commissioner put the investigators together especially for this mission, and they’ve been working on it for many months now. They’re uniquely suited for the mission, and frankly, I’m afraid any other team simply would not be nearly as effective.”

The Attorney General thought about that for a moment. “All right,” he finally decided. “I will hand that team of yours BOI status for the duration of the mission. Just remember that they will be held to an even higher standard than your police department, Commissioner.”

“And I’m sure they will make you proud, sir. Thank you for your trust,” Commissioner Valentine replied. “One more thing,” he added after a short breath. “The lead investigator is a woman.”

The Attorney General almost dropped the receiver. “A woman? Is that really necessary? Or wise?”

“I didn't like it much myself at first, sir, but she has proven her worth. I’ll tell you about her when we have a moment at dinner.”

“All right then,” the Attorney General agreed. “See you then.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Additional notes:  
> The BOI was the forerunner of the FBI. The name changed in 1935.  
> Homer Stille Cummings was Attorney General from 1933 to 1939.  
> Lewis Joseph Valentine was Police Commissioner of New York from 1934 to 1945.


	2. Chapter 1: Lady Fair

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own them. Pity.

Emma Swan breathed a sigh of relief as her plane’s wheels touched the dusty runway. ”Middle of nowhere, looks like,” she mumbled, knowing full well she had no reason to complain. At least this town had an airstrip that she had spotted from the air. 

She grabbed her bag and climbed out of the cockpit and down the wing, patting the side of her plane as she did. “What are you doing to me, Lady?” Her beloved machine had started to react sluggishly to her commands just as she was about to fly out over the sea, and she knew that she was lucky the malfunction hadn’t hit when she was out over the water. 

She waited a few minutes, just walking around the plane and looking around. Surprisingly, nobody had shown up yet. She was used to drawing at least a small crowd with her dark blue biplane, but apparently there was something more interesting going on right now. 

When the machine had cooled down enough for her to open her up, she took a quick look at the motor. There was nothing that immediately stood out to her, so she closed the flap and resolved to call her fatherly friend and business partner, Marco. “He built you, after all,” she told the plane, “and he loves you just as much as I do.” 

“You always talk to machines?” a rugged voice said from behind her. 

Emma whirled around. “Sorry, I had no idea anyone was here,” she said with a smile. “It looked pretty deserted.” 

The newcomer grunted and continued to wipe his hands on a greasy cloth. “She yours?” He pointed at the plane. “Never seen one like her.” 

“Yep,” Emma replied. “First one of her kind. My partner builds the planes, I’m the test pilot,” she added. “I was just taking her out for her first really long spin when she acted funny on me, and I thought it better to set down here in … where exactly am I?” 

“Storybrooke, Maine.” He reached out his hand. “The name’s Mike Tillman, I run this place here. If’n you want me to take a look at her, I’d be glad to.” He looked like he couldn’t wait to touch the beautiful plane. 

“Emma Swan.” They shook hands. “I’m going to to talk to my partner first, to see if he has any idea what went wrong,” Emma declined the offer. “But I bet I could use the help when I start working on her.” She looked around. “Got some space in a hangar for her? At least for one night?” 

“Lemme get my truck.” Mike walked off and returned shortly in an old pick-up truck. “Hook ‘er up,” he called out to Emma, who grabbed the thick wire and hooked up her front axle. As soon as she was set, she banged on the side of the truck and Mike pulled her into the smaller of the two hangars. 

“How far is the town?” Emma asked once her lady was settled. 

“About eight miles that way.” He pointed down the coast. When Emma groaned, he grinned. “Come on, I’ll give you a ride. It’s time to head in anyway. Gotta get ready for tonight.” 

Emma threw her bag in the back of the truck and got in. “Anything special going on tonight?” she asked curiously when she saw the dreamy smile on Mike’s face. 

“Nope,” he replied. “Just a night out at the Queen’s club.” 

_This place has a nightclub?_ Emma wondered. _This I have to see._

● ● ● 

The drive into town was bumpy and slow on a road that was in desperate need of repair. “Any place in town I could find a telephone and a bite to eat?” Emma asked after a few minutes of silence. Just then the whole car swerved to the side as Mike avoided a pothole. “That’s some craters you got around here,” Emma commented casually, her other question forgotten. 

Mike snorted. “The only good thing about that is that it keeps me in business.” 

“How so?” 

“I’m the only mechanic in town,” Mike replied dryly. “And these roads around here keep me pretty darn busy.” 

“Shouldn’t something be done about these holes? Children and small farm animals could get lost in them.” 

“You wanna see my business crumble, gal?” He laughed but it ended in a sigh. “You’re right, of course, and the city council has tried again and again, but the mayor … let’s just say he has other priorities.” 

“Other priorities?” 

“Yes ma’am.” The car jerked through another pothole. “He’s got himself a young lady he wants to impress, and he’s spending the town budget and then some on building a library.” 

“A _library_?” Emma’s sounded incredulous. "This is the worst our economy's been in ... ever, and your mayor's building a library?" 

“It’s been said it’s supposed to rival the big one they got down in New York City.” 

“And there’s nothing the people are doing about that?” 

“Nothin’ much that can be done,” Mike said with a shrug. “Our esteemed mayor owns most of the town. And the people in it.” 

The car stopped in front of a diner. “Well, Miss Swan, welcome to Storybrooke.” Mike made a grand gesture. “This right here is the best place in town to get some grub.” He pointed at the diner. “And I’m sure Granny’s gonna let you use her telephone.” 

“Thanks, Mike,” Emma said sincerely. “Can I buy you a cop of coffee for your troubles?” 

Mike shook his head. “Nah, gotta get home and feed the kids,” he said. “And then get ready for a night out.” 

“Ah yes, that nightclub,” Emma just had to ask, “is that where everybody hangs out at night?” 

Mike grinned. "Those who can afford it, yes ... and many a man and woman who can't, but the Queen hasn't thrown anyone out in a while." 

"The Queen?" 

"The club is called the Queen's Club, though now that I think about it I never saw an official sign or something ... it's just what it is." Mike chuckled. "The owner is called Regina and someone once told me that the name means queen. I guess it stuck." 

"I guess it did." Emma opened the car door and got halfway out before she stopped. "Say, is there a motel or something in this town? Don't fancy sleeping on that bench over there." 

Mike's face fell. "Aw man, I completely forgot ... Granny's inn the only place in town that rents rooms but she's been closed down by Gold." 

"Gold?" 

"The mayor." 

_Damn._ "Well, I guess the bench it is, unless I can find a ride back to the airfield later. Wouldn't be the first time I camped with my Lady." 

"If it comes to that I'll drive you out myself," Mike assured, "but you should maybe go to the club first. It's in that big house on the hill, and most people who work there live in the house. Maybe there's room for you for a few nights." 

"Well, I wanted to check it out anyway," Emma said with a sunny grin. "Thanks, Mike." She grabbed her bag from the back of the truck and lightly knocked on the side to let Mike know he could leave. He gave her a two-finger salute and drove off, leaving Emma alone in front of the diner. The door was open and she could see a few people inside. "Guess the mayor didn't want to touch people's coffee," she muttered. _Lucky me._

She could use a good cup of coffee right about now. 

● ● ● 

_“We lived our little drama_

_We kissed in a field of white_

_And stars fell on Alabama last night_

_I can't forget the —”_

CRASH! 

“Oh darn!” A gruff voice muttered. “Sorry.” 

“Leroy!” Another man hissed loudly. 

Regina interrupted her run-through of the songs for the night and let out a long sigh. She wondered what Leroy had dropped now. Maybe it would be better to hire professionals instead of her ragtag group of people if they were planning on being open for business for a while longer. 

She walked swiftly toward the bar. “What now?” 

A small, squat man looked up at her from behind the bar. “Sorry,” he gruffed. “You sounded so good and I wasn’t lookin’ and …” 

“He dropped a box of shot glasses,” the second man finished for him, not looking up from the glass he was polishing. 

Regina rolled her eyes. “How many do we have left?” 

“That was the last box of new ones,” Leroy admitted sheepishly. 

“So not enough for tonight when everyone and their dog will be here,” Regina concluded softly. “Well, I guess I’ll drive over to the diner to see if Granny can spare some of hers then.” 

Leroy visibly relaxed at Regina’s words but before he could express his gratitude, another man stormed into the room. “Regina!” A man with black hair skidded to a stop next to her at the bar. 

“Killian, what’s the rush?” 

“Gold is on his way to the diner, looks like it might be some kind of meeting.” Killian gulped in some air. “And there’s a newcomer in town, who also ended up at the diner, so maybe that’s connected.” 

Regina straightened at once. “I feel a sudden urge for a cup of Granny’s best.” She held one hand out over the bar. “Thanks, David,” she said as she accepted the coat the barman handed her with a small nod. “You’re in charge until I’m back. Get ready for business.” 

“Sure thing, boss,” David said with a grin while Killian flinched. 


	3. Chapter 2: Temptation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: Didn't get them for Christmas, so I still don't own any of the characters. Still a pity.
> 
> Author's Note: I know there's not much happening yet but for me this story is as much about setting the right tone for time as for the plot. If you enjoy the time period, you might also enjoy the odd factoid I sprinkle on this story. if you don't enjoy the time period, you're probably reading the wrong story.

Emma looked up and down what she assumed to be the town’s main street and decided that she had seen better-off towns, but certainly also places that were worse off. She could smell the sea that apparently was still providing enough money to keep the town afloat even in these difficult times. 

The diner’s door opened and a young couple came out, laughing. They let go of each other to walk around Emma, one on either side, before clasping hands again. Emma smiled at their obvious happiness. 

She was still smiling when she entered the diner and took in her surroundings with a practiced look. Years on the streets of Chicago had taught her to observe and assess, and it had helped her survive a decade in a city in turmoil. After all, she had been living at Mrs. Landesman’s boarding house, right across the street from that garage on Clark that ugly, ugly Valentine’s Day five years before. The _one_ month she had had enough funds to actually rent a bed for a stretch, and _that_ happened. Sometimes … some nights, she could still hear the mechanic’s dog howling as it stood over his owner’s slain body. It was the day she grabbed the one bag with all her belongings and left Chicago for good. 

It was the day she met Marco and her life changed forever. 

She shook herself and came back to the present. That was in the past and she had made it out of Chicago alive and in one piece. _More or less_ , she thought. 

The diner wasn’t empty but there were enough open booths for her to have a choice. As always, she chose one where she had a wall at her back and her face to the door. She had already spotted the second exit through the back, another habit from a time long gone. She took a short look at the menu but since she hadn’t planned on staying anywhere for any sort of time she was a little low on funds. If Marco didn’t come through for her with an easy idea for the Lady, she might actually have to work for her room and board while stuck in this town. 

She watched the other patrons as she waited for the young waitress making the rounds of the tables to come over. She was beautiful, Emma noticed, in a vaguely wild and exciting way. _Now there was a woman who didn’t care much about what anybody thought of her._

“Ruby!” the older woman behind the counter suddenly yelled. “What did I tell you about those skirts?” 

The waitress blushed and waved at the older woman. _Okay, so maybe one person’s opinion mattered._ Then Ruby came over to Emma and winked. “Sorry ‘bout my grandma, she’s a little ornery at the moment. What can I get you?” She looked Emma up and down and raised an eyebrow at her clothes. 

“Coffee, please,” Emma replied with a friendly grin, making a mental note to change out of her flight suit coverall soon. “So, that’s the granny behind Granny’s?” She pointed at the woman behind the counter. 

Ruby beamed. “That she is.” She leaned a little lower over the table, offering Emma a nice view. “She’s one hard-boiled lady, but she knows what’s what. Sometimes I just like to mess with her.” With that and another wink she left to take care of Emma’s order. 

Emma took her bag and walked to the restroom to get changed. Her flight suit really wasn’t proper attire for walking around town. She pulled it off quickly and rolled it up, so she could stuff it in her duffel bag. She pulled out a pair of woolen pants and pulled them on. The shirt she’d had on under her flight suit stayed on. She looked at herself in the mirror and decided that it wasn’t going to get any better than this. She looked presentable, apart from her flight boots, but there was nothing she could do about them now. It was the only pair of shoes she’d brought. 

When she got back to her booth, a mug of coffee was waiting for her and she caught Ruby’s eye to thank her. Ruby grinned at the change of clothes, or so Emma thought, then turned to face the door as it opened to let new patrons in. 

Emma’s eyes wandered over the newcomers as well. Three men had entered, a middle-aged man flanked by two slightly younger men, both of whom looked like people Emma had learned to stay away from when she was living on the streets in Chicago. 

She focused on the older man who looked distinguished in his bespoke suit, elegant cane, and old-fashioned white spats. Emma smirked at that. She hadn’t seen anyone wear spats since she had left Chicago, and it confirmed her belief that this was a backwater town lost in time. 

“Mr. Gold,” Ruby greeted the newcomers, and even Emma could hear that the cheer was forced. “Mr. Jefferson.” She apparently didn’t know the third man. 

_So that was the library-building mayor._ Emma sat back, sipped her coffee, and watched. 

● ● ● 

Regina got into the car and quickly drove over to the diner. _Well, quick was relative when you were driving a piece of junk that was new seven years ago_ , she thought. _At least they had finally traded in their old Tin Lizzie for the A-Model._ She gazed longingly at the picture of the Mercedes-Benz 380 convertible that she had cut out of a magazine and taped to the dashboard. “One day,” she said, smiling at the picture. “One day.” 

The drive took only ten minutes, no matter the car. She parked the car in the alley next to the diner and walked around the corner to first take a good long look through the windows. She spotted Gold immediately since he had chosen his favorite table by the window. He was sitting with one of his right-hand men, Jefferson, but she couldn’t make out the third man’s face. She squared her shoulders and put on a smile as she opened the door and walked straight up to the counter, ignoring Gold and his cronies completely. 

“Hello, Granny,” she greeted the older woman with a smile. “How are you this fine evening?” 

Granny grinned at Regina. “What are you on that side of the counter for, girl?” She put her hands on her hips and tapped her foot impatiently. “Come over here and give me a hug. I haven’t seen you all week.” 

Regina did as she was told, smiling at the playful scolding. “Now you know that’s not true, Granny,” she teased back. “I was in here not two days ago for a piece of your apple pie.” 

“That _you_ made, child,” Granny replied. “Now, what did that oaf of yours drop this time?” 

Regina laughed, then looked around as if she wanted to make sure that nobody had heard or seen. Her eyes fell on a blonde woman in the back booth talking to Ruby and she felt her heart skip a beat, and her laughter trail off. _That must be one of the most beautiful women I’ve ever seen._ “Who is that?” she asked, not realizing it was out loud. 

“I don’t know,” Granny admitted as she followed Regina’s gaze. “She came in about fifteen minutes ago wearing some godawful coverall.” 

Regina tried to imagine Emma looking _godawful_ and failed. “Coverall?” 

“Ask Ruby,” Granny said with a shrug. “They’ve been talking a bit.” 

There was a spark of irrational jealousy at that information, and Regina almost physically shook herself to get rid of it. _What did it matter that Ruby had talked to the woman first? It wasn’t a competition about who talked to her first …_

Which was when Regina realized that she actually _wanted_ to talk to the stranger, and the thought gave her pause. She usually tried to avoid complications at all costs, and that stranger? That looked like a complication all right. 

“So, Leroy dropped something?” Granny interrupted her thoughts, and Regina gratefully tore her eyes from the oblivious stranger’s face. 

“Our last box of new shot glasses,” Regina answered Granny’s question. “Could you spare one? You know how the crowd gets on their last night of the weekend.” 

“Sure I can,” Granny reassured her. “Just grab some coffee and sit down while I grab that box for you.” Her head subtly pointed at the free booth next to the mayor’s table. 

“Take your time,” Regina said with a smile. “And let Ruby grab that box from the basement for you.” Regina _wasn’t_ jealous of Ruby, but the girl deserved some punishment nonetheless. 

Granny gave her a knowing look. “You got it.” She filled a mug and pushed it into Regina’s hands. “Now git so I can get some work done.” 

● ● ● 

Emma hadn’t missed the other woman’s entrance. _How could she?_ She was pretty darn sure _not_ noticing a woman like that was a federal crime. Her hand clenched around the mug she was holding as she tried to follow the woman’s progress through the diner without being too obvious about it. _Holy hot damn, that was one hot dish._

The newcomer was obviously a regular and a friend of Granny’s judging from the way she greeted the owner of the diner. Emma caught Ruby’s eye and called her over by raising her still half-full mug. She desperately choked down a huge gulp of too hot coffee, so she could justify the refill. 

“Who is that?” she asked as casually as she could while Ruby filled up her mug. 

Ruby looked over her shoulder. “That?” she asked. “That’s Ms. Mills.” She grinned wolfishly. “Probably the most beautiful dame in town.” Emma was as surprised as Ruby to hear the growl coming from deep in her throat but Ruby just laughed at her behavior. “Easy, Romeo,” the waitress said with a laugh. “I didn’t mean nothing by that.” 

“I … I didn’t …” Emma hardly ever found herself lost for words but suddenly her tongue was tied in knots. 

Ruby just kept on grinning. “Listen, honey,” she said, putting her hand on Emma’s forearm. “It’s fine with me if you swing that-a-way.” She leaned closer to Emma’s ear. “I have no idea if she does, though. She lives with a ton of guys.” She squeezed Emma’s arm before she let go and sauntered to another table. 

Emma could feel the blush on her face. How obvious had she been? She focused on her coffee mug to get herself under control. _Be cool, Swan. Nice and easy. Breathe in and out. See, no problem._

Emma was so focused on her own breathing that she missed the glances the newcomer threw her way, but she did look up in time to catch the tail end of a look as the woman turned away from her and towards Granny. Curiosity overrode her embarrassment once more and she followed the brunette’s progress from the counter to the booth next to the mayor’s. 

She watched the brunette until Ruby approached her table and dropped a box of something in front of her. The woman rose gracefully, gave a short wave to Granny and left. 

In the door she turned around one last time and her eyes met Emma’s across the diner, and Emma felt the look like burning embers on her skin. She broke the gaze before she melted, and when she looked up again, the woman was gone. 

Emma suddenly felt the urge to leave straight away. She looked for Ruby but the waitress was busy with other patrons, so Emma got up and walked over to Granny’s. 

“What do I owe you for my coffee?” she asked the older woman. 

“Five cents,” Granny replied. 

Emma handed over a nickel with a smile. “I heard that your inn is the only one in town,” she mentioned. 

“That’s right,” Granny replied. “Unfortunately our illustrious mayor closed it down for the time being.” 

“Yeah, I heard that too,” Emma admitted. “Problem is I’m stuck in town for a few days and need a place to bunk …” 

Granny gave her the once-over with a look in her eyes that Emma couldn’t read. “I suggest you walk over to the Queen’s Club and talk to Regina,” she finally said after a few moments. “Tell her I sent you, and she’ll put you up. You might have to do the odd job around the club though, so …” 

“Oh, that’s fine,” Emma quickly agreed. “Just point me in the right direction?” 

Granny described the way to the club and Emma left with one last wave to Ruby and a smile to Granny. 

Granny watched her go with a smile of her own. “Never let it be said I don’t do you any favors, Regina,” she muttered under her breath. 

Ruby was suddenly right by her side. “Where did Emma run off to?” 

“The young lady needed a place to sleep for a few days.” Granny smiled even more widely. “I sent her to Regina.” 

Ruby thought of the starstruck look on Emma’s face. “Well done, Granny,” she said. “I’ll see her there later then.” 

“So will I,” Granny said. She couldn’t wait to see how things played out. There was something in the air tonight in Storybrooke, and she wanted to be right there to see it happen. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The famous Valentine's Day Massacre (Valentine's Day, 1929) happened at a garage on Clark Street in Lincoln Park, Chicago. One of the men who was killed was a mechanic who only occasionally worked on gang cars. His dog was chained to a truck in the garage and his howling and barking alerted the owner of a boarding house across the street, Mrs. Landesman, who sent one of her tenants over to the garage to investigate.
> 
> Spats went mostly out of fashion in the 1920s.
> 
> The Ford Model A was the successor of the Model T (Tin Lizzie) and was built from 1927 to 1931.
> 
> The Mercedes-Benz 380 (also known as the W22) was built from 1933 to 1934.
> 
> And yes, coffee at a diner really was a nickel at the time ...
> 
> 1930s slang:  
> dame – woman  
> hard-boiled - tough  
> dish - attractive woman


	4. Chapter 3: Ill Wind

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: Still don't own them.
> 
> Author's note: I've decided I'm only going annotate the 1930s slang that might actually be difficult to understand. Fact-wise there's nothing much to annotate this chapter.  
> The chapter title "Ill Wind" is a song written by Ted Koehler and Harold Arlen.

**Chapter 3: Ill Wind**

Regina drove back to the mansion as fast as her little car would go. Opening time was nearing quickly and she still had to share what she had learned at the diner, get ready for the night … 

And get a certain blonde stranger out of her mind. 

She stormed through the foyer and down the back stairs to where the club was. The house with its huge basement area had been a fantastic find, ideal for their purposes here in Storybrooke. She smiled at all the perks the house provided, which also included more than enough room for all of them. 

One look around the club told her that everything was ready for the doors to open and she shot David a grateful look. She spotted Leroy through the open door of the stock room behind the bar and called him over. “There’s a box of shot glasses in the car. Please get them all downstairs in one piece.” 

Leroy ran off and came back moments later, handling the box as if he wanted to marry it the next day. He put it on the bar in slow motion and grinned at Regina who couldn’t help but grin back. Then he vanished behind a door before Regina could stop him. 

“Anything interesting, boss?” David asked casually as he wiped a non-existent stain on the bar. Regina wondered if he hadn’t found his real calling here in this set-up. 

David saw Regina looking around. “Jones is fiddling with his kit. You know those skin ticklers.” He whistled loudly and Killian poked his head through the curtain a second later, then came over slowly. 

“I wish he remembered that’s not his actual job.” Regina nodded at David. “Has the Cricket shown up yet?” 

David shook is head. “And Astrid is upstairs in the kitchen fixing some sandwiches for later before leaving.” 

“Good.” Regina relaxed a little. They had been forced to hire some local people once they had opened the club but that didn’t mean that Regina wanted them anywhere near their business. She gave Killian a look. “Would you mind saving Astrid from Leroy’s sad attempts at small talk? Please remind him that his job is hunting but that doesn’t include the local skirts.” 

Once they were all huddled together, Regina reported what she had heard at the diner. “This might be it, boys,” she began. “Gold was there with Jefferson and a player from out of town. They were talking about a shipment on Wednesday but they didn’t mention what they’re shipping. Could be dope, could be guns. Jefferson alluded to a location by the water, so I’m assuming they stored the goods either at the old cannery or the adjacent warehouse.” 

David frowned. “We need to know what we’re dealing with,” he thought out loud. “We might have to call in some reinforcements.” 

“Which is why one of you will have to go out and check the locations tonight,” Regina said reluctantly. “Gold will be here at the club, and I’m pretty sure he’s going to bring the big cheese from out of town. I can’t go because I have to entertain.” She rolled her eyes. 

“I’ll go,” David offered quickly. 

“You can’t.” Regina looked almost apologetic. As her second-in-command he would have been her first choice if she couldn’t go. “I need your eyes and ears on Gold tonight.” 

“Besides there’s no one here who can serve the hooch as well as you can,” Killian added. “I’ll go. If you switch a couple of songs around, you won’t need me. Just tell everyone I hurt my good hand.” He held up his wooden hand with a wink. 

Regina nodded. “Thanks, Killian.” 

“What if it’s a trap?” Leroy asked. 

“Valid question,” Killian muttered when Regina shot the short man a look. 

“I know,” Regina drawled. “It might well be. Gold saw me at the diner and if he’s even the least bit suspicious after all these months, this might be his way of getting rid of us for good.” 

They all were quiet, each contemplating what that would entail. Their silence was broken by a throat being cleared loudly. 

Regina whirled around and came face to face with the blonde stranger from the diner. At once, her mind was running through a range of questions, wondering who the woman was, how much she had heard … 

And why on earth she was so damn beautiful. 

● ● ● 

Emma enjoyed the crisp air this early evening in late April. It smelled of spring but there was still a tinge of the winter just left behind that made her glad she had her thick leather coat. 

Granny had given her pretty precise directions and had actually apologized that Emma would have to walk there by herself. Emma had reassured her by saying she was no stranger to walking and that it would give her an opportunity to learn the layout of the town. 

The walk took close to half an hour but Emma really didn’t mind that. Her thoughts were on the beautiful brunette from the diner and who she might be. Her behavior had been a little _off_ after she had talked to Granny but without any further information Emma had nothing to substantiate her weird feeling. It had _looked_ like she had been very interested in what the three men in the booth next to her were talking about while tying to look _extremely_ uninterested. It had made Emma’s street smarts senses tingle. 

She spotted the mansion from afar. It sat at the end of the street, quite a ways away from other houses. _Good location for all sorts of things._ Like Granny had said, the house was huge and looked too residential to be home to a nightclub. She remembered that Mike had said that there was no official sign anywhere, and she figured in a town this small it wasn’t necessary. Besides, she thought, it probably had been a speakeasy not too long ago. 

With no idea where to go, Emma shrugged and knocked on the large white door. It took a few moments but then it opened and revealed a small woman in a maid uniform. “May I help you?” 

“Hello,” Emma replied. “My name is Emma Swan. I’m looking for a Regina.” The small woman opened the door a little wider and Emma stepped inside. “Granny sent me.” 

“Welcome, Ms. Swan. My name is Astrid.” 

“Astrid? That’s an unusual name,” Emma said with a tilt of her head. 

“Not where my parents were born,” Astrid replied with a smile. “Miss Regina can be found in the club downstairs.” She pointed at a door. “Through that door and down. I would take you myself but I have something on the cooker.” 

“It’s no problem, I’m sure I can find my way.” Emma gave Astrid a final smile and walked towards the door. _There must be another entrance. This is probably for employees and the lady of the house._

The staircase was dimly light and curved a little to the right but there was a light coming through a doorway that told Emma where she needed to go. The door was ajar and she could hear people talking close by. Out of instinct, she stopped behind the door to listen. 

The voices were low and she couldn’t make out too much but she heard the names Gold and what sounded like Jefferson. _The men from the diner._ She opened the door a little wider at the sound of the woman’s voice. It was entrancing and she wondered if it was Regina, the nightclub owner, who was speaking. In her attempt to get closer to the voice she opened the door wider than she intended and saw no chance but to step through completely. 

_“… saw me at the diner and if he’s even the least bit suspicious after all these months, this might be his way of getting rid of us for good,”_ Emma heard the woman say, and she wondered what was going on here. She had a feeling there was something really fishy going on in this town. 

_What did I stumble into here?_ She thought it best to announce her presence if she didn’t want to arouse suspicion, so she cleared her throat. 

The woman whirled around and Emma’s breath stopped in her throat. The woman from the diner. _Damn it, Granny, you could have warned me._

“Hi,” Emma said in greeting, giving the woman a shy smile. It was just about everything her fried brain could come up with. _Why does this woman affect me so?_

“Who are you?” the brunette growled. “And what are you doing here?” 

_Woah. They’re definitely hiding something._ Emma decided to try her luck with the truth. “M-My name is Emma Swan. I’m looking for Regina? Granny sent me over here.” 

Emma saw the two taller men exchange glances, and the woman before her seemed to consciously relax her shoulders at the mention of Granny’s name. The shorter man was too busy looking at Emma’s legs. _What an egg._

“I am Regina Mills.” The tone was marginally friendlier now. Still wary, but not openly hostile. “What can I do for you, Miss Swan?” 

● ● ● 

Regina tried to get her shaking hands under control but she wasn’t having much success. This stranger, this Emma Swan was having a strange effect on her. At first, Regina had been angry at the possibility of having been overheard but as soon as her brain realized that she was talking to the blonde stranger from the diner, she felt her stomach fill with a swarm of butterflies. _Well, that certainly hadn’t happened in many, many years._

She could practically feel Killian and David shooting each other questioning looks at her off behavior. She should have kicked Emma Swan out by now, or at least ask her some hard question as to what she had heard. Instead, she had sent the boys off to their tasks and had taken the blonde upstairs to the mansion to talk. 

“Can I offer you a drink, Miss Swan?” Regina asked. “Some cider perhaps?” 

Emma nodded, not trusting her voice. She accepted the tumbler and took a quick gulp, and saw her hostess do the same thing. 

“What was it that Granny thought I could help you with?” Regina asked again when Emma made no move to speak. She would have smiled at the nervous way Emma clutched her drink if she hadn’t been so inexplicably nervous as well. 

“Well, the thing is … I’m stranded in town for at least a couple of days and since Granny’s inn was closed down by the mayor …” She shrugged. 

“The mayor,” Regina growled, ”should stop harassing the good citizens and business owners of this town.” 

“Granny’s is not the only business having trouble with him?” Emma couldn’t help but ask. _Was he running some kind of racket? Was that what the problem here was?_

“No.” Regina obviously wasn’t willing to share more. “Granny hasn’t done anything wrong, but Mr. Gold is a powerful man in this town.” 

“Maybe I could help?” Emma offered with a shrug. _Just ask me._

“I doubt it, dear,” Regina said softly, her voice taking on a slightly warning note. “In fact, it would be better if you stayed out of this and left this town again as soon as you could. It’s for your own good.” _And mine. I can’t have you distracting me from my mission._

Now Emma was even more intrigued. Why did this woman want to get rid of her? _I could help her._ “I will,” she said, not sure if she actually meant it. The more someone wanted to get rid of her, the more she dug in her heels. That had always been the case, and that had always led her into trouble. “But I can’t until I can get my airplane fixed, and that will take a few days at least, depending on the parts needed.” 

Regina raised an eyebrow at that. “You’re an aviator?” 

Emma grinned, suddenly feeling some of her usual confidence returning. The ladies always liked that part, and it looked like Regina wasn’t any different. She smirked and stood a bit straighter. 

Regina’s thoughts, however, were going in a completely different direction. _What if Emma was part of Gold’s big deal?_ It was too much of a coincidence to believe that a beautiful woman would just suddenly get stuck here with a very convenient airplane while Gold was preparing a major deal. She needed to keep an eye on this woman. 

Regina was torn out of her thoughts by Emma’s next words. “Granny thought you might have a room for me for the duration of my stay, and I really hope you do.” 

_She was good_ , Regina thought. She really sounded sincere. “Of course you can stay here,” she heard herself say. _The best way to keep an eye on this stranger was to keep her close_ , she told herself. “Any friend of Granny’s is a friend of mine.” 

“Oh, that’s great,” Emma said gratefully. Whatever else was going on, she _really_ needed a place to stay. “Thank you.” 

“No problem, dear.” Regina put down her glass. “Let me show you to your room, and then I’ll have to get ready for tonight.” 

Emma nodded and picked up her bag. She followed Regina up the wide staircase, looking around carefully the whole time. Her mind registered the details automatically. _No personal items anywhere, no photos, no knick-knacks._ Nothing that could tell her anything about the people living here. That was weird, in and of itself. 

Regina stopped in front of a door she had opened. “I hope this room meets your requirements, Miss Swan.” 

Emma took a look at the fairly large room with a wide bed, a dresser, and a big wardrobe. “It more than does, thank you. And please call me Emma.” 

Regina just walked down the hall a little. “This is the bathroom,” she pointed at a nondescript door. “You’ll be sharing, I’m afraid.” She didn’t sound too worried about it, and Emma just nodded, not having expected anything else. “Not with the boys, however,” Regina amended with a smirk. “They have their own.” 

They walked back to Emma’s new room but before they got there, Regina stopped at a set of double doors across from Emma’s room. “This is my room,” Regina explained. “Under no circumstances will you enter it. Do you understand?” 

Emma nodded, already planning to sneak into the room as soon as possible. “Of course,” she replied. “Well, I guess I’ll be seeing you later then? In the club?” 

Regina raised an eyebrow and gave Emma a slow look from head to toe and back. “The club is at the very least semi-formal, dear,” she said evenly. “Do you have anything in that bag of yours that fits that description?” 

“Er, no,” Emma admitted with a blush. “You see, when I packed this bag it was with an emergency in mind, not getting dolled up for a night at the Ritz.” 

Regina tapped her fingers on her hips. “Wait here,” she said after a few moments and vanished into her own room. 

Emma nodded and turned to drop her bag on the bed in her room. She shrugged out of her leather coat and uncurled the thin scarf she almost always wore. She sat down on the bed and moved up and down and sideways for a bit, realizing that this was probably the most comfortable bed she’d had in ages. She flopped down on her back with a sigh and closed her eyes, wiggling around a little on the soft duvet. 

“Comfortable, dear?” Regina’s voice held a faint note of teasing, and Emma had no trouble imagining the look on the other woman’s face. “Here, you can choose from these if you decide to come downstairs.” With that she dumped a pile of clothes on Emma’s body and left with a soft chuckle, closing the door behind her. 

Emma sat up to look through the pile Regina had left with her, and groaned in frustration. 

_Dresses._

She didn’t do dresses. Ever. 

Flimsy dresses. Elegant dresses. Short dresses, long gowns, dresses she would love to see on Regina. That thought led to wondering what Regina would be wearing later, and Emma imagined her in all sorts of dresses, one more exciting than the next. She imagined her coming closer, whispering soft words in Emma’s ear. And then Emma imagined peeling the dress off of Regina. Slowly. 

Emma groaned again, this time for an entirely different reason. 

● ● ● 

Regina stood outside Emma’s room, listening to the frustrated groan, grinning wickedly. This woman could very well be dangerous, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t have some fun. “Welcome to the Queen’s Club, Miss Swan.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun factoid: Emma assumes that the club used to be a speakeasy during the prohibition years. Since she's not from Maine and doesn't live there, she assumes that the prohibition is over, which would be true for most states. It officially ended in December 1933. However, Maine clung on to the prohibition until July 1st, 1934 (and started in the 1850s). And since the story takes places at the end of April, the prohibition is actually still very much in effect in Storybrooke. Well, as effective as a law can be that was broken round the clock by people from all walks of life. :)
> 
> Slang:  
> skin tickler - drummer  
> hooch - drinks, alcohol  
> speakeasy - bar that served illegal alcohol during the prohibition


	5. Chapter 4: For All We Know

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own OUaT or any of its characters. Sad, but true.
> 
> The chapter title, For All We Know, is a 1934 song written by Sam M. Lewis and J. Fred Coots.

**Chapter 4: For All We Know**

David, Killian and Leroy were standing at the bar in the club discussing the new developments. They all had seen the looks between the two women and all three of them were suspicious. Well, mostly Killian and Leroy. David thought it better to keep an open mind about these things. 

“It’s just too much of a coincidence, boys,” Killian insisted, just like he had the past ten minutes. “We have Gold preparing for some major deal and suddenly a lovely blonde broad shows up to distract us?” 

“I’m with Woody here,” Leroy said, pointing his thumb at Killian. “Something smells funny.” 

David moved his head from side to side while he was thinking. He hadn’t gotten a bad vibe off of the stranger but he _was_ a little worried about Regina. “I think she might be on the level,” he said with a shrug. “Maybe she really did just have bad luck. These things do happen sometimes, you know.” The two other men looked unconvinced. “And why would Gold need an airplane? He has enough boats in this harbor to walk up to Canada from deck to deck if he wants to.” He paused. “I _am_ worried about Regina’s focus, though,” he continued. “You did see the way she looked at—” 

“Blondie and her assets?” Leroy asked, waggling his eyebrows. “Hell, yeah.” 

Killian grinned. “Did anyone else feel the heat from here or was it just me and my keen senses?” 

David snorted. “Let’s hope the boss manages to keep her mind on the right things then.” All three men nodded gravely. Then David straightened. “Okay, Leroy, you keep an eye on our guest just in case,” he instructed. “Just hang out upstairs with your doll if she’s still there, and see what you can find out.” He waited until Leroy nodded eagerly and walked away. 

“He always gets the fun jobs,” Killian mock-complained. 

David laughed. “Oh, did you want to go spend time with Astrid?” he asked. “I thought that diner girl Ruby Lucas was more your type?” Killian just glared at him. “You gotta get ready for tonight anyway. Is there anything from the locker you think you might need?” 

Killian thought for a second, then shook his head. “Nah, I’m good. Got my knife and my ankle heater, and my little secret weapon.” He patted his lower back, his ankle, and his wooden hand. 

“Good,” David said with a nod before he picked up his dishrag again. “Then let’s get ready for tonight.” 

● ● ● 

Emma just lay on the bed for a while staring at the pile of dresses next to her. After a few minutes, her hand started touching the fabric, her fingers slowly running up and down the different dresses. She was certainly no expert in fashion, but these looked amazing and expensive, and Emma just knew they had to be Regina's. She wasn't sure why but that thought made her smile. 

She sat up slowly, and as she did her eyes fell on her leather boots. _Well,_ those _are going to go well with a dress_. She held up one dress after another, dropping all short dresses in a separate pile. She definitely wouldn't be wearing them tonight. _Wait, when did she decide to actually put on one of these monstrosities?_

When Emma had discarded all the shorter dresses, only two dresses remained. One a slim turquoise gown with some elaborate embroidery that looked like it would hug her body in all the right places, and the other a simpler, black gown with a wide swath of silver from the right chest to the left hip. It was held up by a wide silver strap that looped around the neck. It was the black dress that Emma's hand stayed on the longest as she enjoyed the silky feel of the fabric and tried hard not to remember that this dress would have hugged Regina's body before. 

Emma stood, indecision halting her movements for a second. She hadn’t worn a dress since leaving Chicago, since leaving that life. Once Marco had found her walking by a lonely stretch of road in Illinois and had taken her with him to Iowa, she had never looked back. She had picked up a pair of small men’s jeans at a local store, had put on an old undershirt of Marco’s late son, and had gotten to work on the airplane her new friend was building. 

It had been the airplane she later had learned to fly on, and she had flown it until Marco had sold it to buy materials for the new and improved airplane he was planning: her Lady, the airplane that had stranded her here. The thought reminded her that she should place a call to Marco to see if he had any ideas about what went wrong. 

She hadn’t worn a dress since that day, and she had not planned on ever wearing one again, but apparently life had different plans for her. Emma shook herself out of her thoughts and rummaged through her bag for her emergency toiletries. Nothing would happen before she hadn’t cleaned up a little. She could feel the dust that clung to her from her flight and the quick wash-up she had managed when she had changed in the diner hadn’t really helped. 

Time to check out the bathroom. 

● ● ● 

Thirty minutes later Emma checked herself in the mirror in her room one last time. She felt weird in the elegant evening gown, which was surely more expensive than all the clothes she had ever owned put together. She scowled at her reflection. It wasn’t that she didn’t look good — on the contrary, she knew objectively that she rocked that dress, and she enjoyed the fact that Regina had assumed she would, or at least she told herself that was why Regina had given it to her — no, it was more that she didn’t feel like she was looking at _herself_ in the mirror. 

That mirror image told the story of a woman who knew her way around polite society, who knew which fork to use when, and to keep her voice down at the dinner table. The woman in the mirror was everything she imagined Regina to be, and for a second Emma was afraid she was going to vanish beneath the gown. She lifted the front of the gown and saw her aviator boots on her feet, reaching up to her knee, giving her stability and grounding her in the reality of who she was inside. She breathed deeply, both in relief and to center herself before venturing into the club. She was still Emma Swan, aviator. 

She approached the staircase carefully, trying hard not to step on the hem of the dress, which made her walk more awkwardly than usual. Regina would never have this problem, she thought, while wondering with the next breath why her mind kept on going back to the woman. Yes, she was beautiful and breathtaking and stunning, and a world of words in between but she had seen beautiful women before. So what made this woman so special? 

Emma figured she wouldn’t find out unless she ventured downstairs, so she took a breath and the first step. She was glad that she had a hand on the banister when she realized that her step had been a little too big for the hem of her dress and she almost went down the stairs head first. _Small steps, Miss Swan,_ her brain reminded her, using Regina’s mocking voice for some reason. _Think dainty._

_Yeah, right._

She made it to the foyer in one piece and promptly patted herself on the shoulder with a sense of achievement. Now she only had to find a telephone. She hoped she could still reach Marco, but since they were an hour ahead of him, he should still be at the hangar, tinkering with one thing or another. She looked around the foyer. 

“Looking for something?” one of the man who had been with Regina at the bar earlier was suddenly standing next to her. 

Emma tried not to jump more than a couple of inches in her surprise. “Yes, actually,” she replied. “Is there a telephone around here somewhere? I’m Emma, Emma Swan, by the way.” 

“Pleasure.” Leroy mustered her, sounding grumpy. He had just escorted Astrid out the door after a very nice half hour spent sitting at the kitchen table staring at the object of his affection. He wished she could have stayed. “The name’s Leroy. There’s a horn in the kitchen. I guess it’s okay for you to use that.” 

“Don’t worry, it’ll be a collect call,” Emma threw in quickly. 

Leroy shrugged. “Whatever works for you, sister.” He pointed at the kitchen door and watched as Emma walked inside. Then he slowly and silently crept to the door to listen. This was a good opportunity to confirm his suspicions that their boss had been too taken by blonde too fast. Instead of taking her in and giving her a room, she should have kicked the stranger in the shins for spying on them earlier. Leroy didn’t like it one bit. 

Emma found the telephone on the wall close to the door. it was a relatively modern model and she wondered if Maine already had the direct dialing service. If so, then somebody sure as hell didn’t like their local calls overheard in this town. She thought fondly of Marco’s telephone, a candlestick from 1922 that he swore to keep until the telephone company made him get a new one. So far that hadn’t been necessary since their small town in the middle of nowhere still had a very nosy and well-informed operator. 

Emma dialed the operator and got prompt service. “Hello, I’d like to place a collect call to Trenton in Iowa. The number is Westfield 459.” 

“Please wait while I connect the call.” 

Emma looked around the large kitchen while she waited for the call to go through. It looked functional, and all the appliances and counters were sparkly clean. Astrid seemed to do a good job … if that even was her job, Emma amended. For all she knew, Regina employed a chef. 

“Putting you through now,” the female voice at the other end said, and Emma barely had time to thank her before Marco came on the line. 

“Emma? Emma is that you?” He asked, sounding worried. “You were supposed to call me hours ago!” 

“Yes, it’s me,” Emma replied. “I had to pull an emergency landing in Maine.” 

“You’re in _Maine_?” 

“Yeah, some small place called Storybrooke,” Emma explained further. 

“What happened with the Lady?” Marco wanted to know. 

Emma stopped for a second wondering how Marco could know about Regina before she realized that he was talking about their airplane. _Get your mind off that woman,_ she scolded herself. She explained what had happened as precisely as she could and how she came to need a landing strip close by. “A few miles further out and I could have tested the Lady’s floating abilities,” she finished. “So you got any idea what went wrong? There’s a nice mechanic here who could probably help me fix it.” 

“Nah,” Marco drawled. “I think I know what went wrong. I have the right spare part here but I’ll need a couple of days to come out to Maine. Can you hold out that long?” 

“You don’t have to come all the way, Marco,” Emma told him. “Why don’t you ship it here?” 

Marco laughed. “It’s a pretty decent sized part, Emma,” he said. “Shipping it would take just as long as if I just put it in the truck and drove over there. Besides, I’m not letting some mechanic from Podunk, Maine touch that airplane.” 

Emma laughed. “Okay, I’ll be seeing you in a few days then. And don’t worry about me, I’m fine here. I found a place to stay and I’ll just make myself useful until you get here.” 

Leroy thought that was a good point in the conversation to vanish from the kitchen door. He had heard enough anyway. He hadn’t come to a final conclusion yet, but if that phone call had been a coded conversation, it had been too cryptic for him. It sounded genuine enough, so he was willing to give her the benefit of the doubt for now. He slipped downstairs into the club to get back to work. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Annotations:  
> heater – gun
> 
> Factoids:  
> Why Emma had to buy men’s jeans when she got to Iowa: Levi’s began selling jeans for women (Levi’s 701s) for the first time in 1934, so Emma was forced to make do with a small size of regular 501s. In the beginning, women’s jeans were only sold in the western states of the U.S. for women working on ranches. If you wanted a pair of jeans on the east coast, you had to ship it across the country.  
> Telephones and phone calls: In the beginning all calls had to be connected manually by an operator (who of course could listen in on all calls if she wanted). Local calls were slowly switched to direct dial service from the 1920s on, but manual switchboards (connected via operator) and electronic switchboards (direct dialing) coexisted for almost 30 years.  
> Direct dialing for long distance calls began in November 1951, but the switching process for the whole country took quite a while (into the 1960s in some cities). International direct dialing became available from the 1970s.  
> Collect calls were relatively common. You just had to let the operator know before you gave her the number so she knew to charge the other end for the phone call.  
> Telephone numbers in the 1930 usually consisted of a word and a 3-digit number. The first two letters of the word translated into numbers, so Marco’s number in the story, Westfield 459, would be dialed as 93-459 if direct dial service had been available at that time.


	6. Chapter 5: The Very Thought Of You

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: Not my characters, obviously.
> 
> A/N: The chapter title is song written by Ray Noble.

**Chapter 5: The Very Thought Of You**

It looked like the club was slowly filling with people when Emma made it downstairs. She caught Leroy’s eyes when she walked to the bar and to her surprise he gave her a small nod that looked almost friendly. _Weird._

Emma looked around but didn’t feel quite comfortable enough to sit at one of the tables. She didn’t feel like a normal patron, not with a room upstairs, so she decided to just sit at the bar. She made her way all the way to the end of it, to where it curved towards the back wall and took the last stool. The bartender registered her movement out of the corner of his eyes, she could tell, and she didn’t have to wait long until he came over. 

“So I guess you’ll be staying with us for a while?” were the first words he said to her. 

Emma raised an eyebrow. “How did you know?” 

He chuckled. “You had that look when you arrived earlier and, well, Granny sent you. Plus, you’re wearing one of the boss’s dresses …” He trailed off. There was no way he would tell her that he had guessed from the look on Regina’s face that the blonde would be staying. He could have been wrong after all. He also decided not to tell Emma that the dress she was wearing was one of Regina’s personal favorites. “I’m David Nolan, by the way,” he continued. “Just call me Nolan. Or David.” 

“I answer to Emma or Swan,” Emma replied and held out her hand for David to shake. “Can I get a drink?” 

“Sure,” David replied with a shrug. “What’s your poison? Dog soup, baby juice? Coffee?” 

Emma spluttered in surprise. “Did you get your dates confused? The prohibition ended last year.” 

David grinned broadly. “It did … just not here in good old Maine.” 

“You’re joking!” 

“Nope, they’re still discussing it over in Augusta.” He shook his head. “Anyway, I was just messin’ with you. What can I get you?” 

“You got decent bourbon?” 

David nodded and pulled a bottle from a cabinet under the bar. “This is the good stuff,” he explained as he poured her a generous glass. 

“So are there still raids and such going on up here?” she asked before taking her first sip. “Hm, this is good.” 

“Nah.” David shook his head. “This is Gold’s town,” he said in a low voice. “He makes sure that businesses can run … undisturbed.” 

Emma studied David’s face. “For the right price, I guess?” 

“Everything has a price, Swan.” 

He was called away, so Emma turned in her seat to watch the room. There was a large flimsy curtain in one corner of the room through which she could see the slightly raised stage with a drum kit and a piano, making Emma wonder when Regina was going to grace them with her appearance. She could see another one of Regina’s guys, the dark-haired one, doing something next to the stage. Emma wasn’t sure from this distance but he looked like he had a wooden hand. _Wonder what his job is …_

More people were coming in, filling most of the tables. One table, sitting at a prominent spot — and Emma guessed the best seat in the house — was still empty. Gold’s table, Emma assumed, and for a second she contemplated moving to that table just to see what would happen. She even tensed her muscles to stand. 

“Don’t,” a low voice next to her said. Ruby slid onto the stool next to her. 

“Don’t what?” 

“Don’t mess with him,” Ruby whispered. “I could read your thoughts from our table over there and I came to stop you.” She pointed at the table where Granny was sitting. Emma gave her a small wave. “Be careful around him.” 

“He’s not even here yet,” Emma said, rolling her eyes, wondering when she had become so transparent that people could just read her like that. She dearly hoped her poker face had worked better on Regina. 

“He might not be but …” Ruby stopped and looked around. 

“Ah.” Emma nodded. “Eyes and ears everywhere, huh?” 

Ruby just nodded. “Want to join us at our table?” 

Emma thought about it for a second but then decided to stay where she was. “Thank you, but I’m going to stay here for now.” She made a vague motion round the room and towards the stage. 

Ruby smiled knowingly. “Enjoying the view from here, I get it.” She checked her small gold watch. “Speaking of enjoying the view, I wonder where the main attraction is. First set should have started already. Regina usually is very punctual. I wonder what’s keeping her.” 

Now that she heard that Emma could see that the people were getting antsy. There was a tiny part of her that hoped that Regina’s late arrival had a little something to do with her but she knew it was probably completely unrelated. From the corner of her eyes she could see how David called over the dark guy with the wooden hand. “Jones, go see what’s up with the boss, will ya?” 

**o o o**

After dumping the dresses on Emma, Regina had walked into her room with a smile on her face, which she suppressed as soon as she realized she was wearing it. Tonight could very well be make or break time for them, could be the night they finally found the evidence they would need to bring down that bastard Gold and his cronies. 

The night she could finally be one step closer to getting her revenge. 

She should be focused on that, and not the woman across the hall, not on the question which of the dresses she would choose to wear. She shouldn’t have tossed two of her favorite dresses at Emma Swan just to see if she would pick one of them. Just because she wanted to _see_ her in one of them. 

It was undeniable that something in her had awakened with the arrival of the blonde aviator, and there was a tingle in her body that she found both curious and exhilarating. She hadn't felt like that in way too many years. She went to her large closet and ran her hand along the clothes hanging there, trying to get a feel for what she would wear to the club tonight. Her hand stopped, and Regina raised the hand, as well as an eyebrow at her body’s unconscious choice, and pulled the item from the rack. 

She dropped the garment on her bed and began to undress, her face slowly forming a wicked smirk. She wondered what Miss Swan would think of her choice. Her mind wandered off a little, imagining the different reactions. Did Miss Swan even know that Regina wasn’t just the owner of the club but also its main attraction? What would she think of Regina’s performance? 

Regina shook herself after being lost for who knew how long. What on Earth did she care what that woman would think of her? 

Still she took much more care than usual with her hair and make-up, something she would never admit out loud. She checked herself in the mirror several times, attempting to quell her inexplicable nervousness, turning her head this way and that, trying to put on the mask of indifference she would need to get through a night of hosting and entertaining. She didn’t stop until she was satisfied she looked the part. She looked hot, she was ready, she was— 

“Hey, Boss?” There was a cautious knock on her door, and Regina checked the clock on her dresser. 

She was late. 

**o o o**

Killian Jones prided himself on being a tough guy. He had roughed up bad guys, and also some not so bad guys, and he had always had an eye for the ladies. But when Regina stepped through her door roughly two seconds after his knock, he knew he had never seen anything like _that_ before. He whistled softly and gave her an appraising look which Regina ended by hitting him upside the head. 

“Ouch.” He grinned devilishly. 

“You like what you’re seeing, Killian?” Regina asked silkily, toying with him. 

“Oh, yeah,” he breathed. “I gotta say though … I’m feeling sorry for whoever you want to impress tonight. They don’t stand a chance.” 

“It’s for our audience, Killian, nothing more,” Regina replied with a smile and began to walk downstairs. 

“If you say so, boss,” Killian drawled. The he turned serious. “So we’re playing the first set and if Gold arrives by then, I’m leaving afterwards to scope out the warehouses?” 

Regina nodded. “I’m going to surprise the audience with a softer second set with just the piano and me. Should be good enough to keep them entertained.” 

“With you wearing that?” Killian countered. “You could read the phonebook and they’d be happy.” 

“As long as it keeps Gold and his partners occupied, I’ll be happy.” _And if a certain aviator enjoys it, well … we’ll see._

Killian smirked, already looking forward to seeing people’s reactions to her boss. He watched from the corner of his eye how Regina straightened her shoulders and took a deep breath becoming every inch the queen her name suggested she was. 

“All right,” Regina finally said. “Go get Hopper and get ready. We’re going to start the set with …” 

She leaned closer to Killian and whispered something in his ear. He grinned. “Good choice.” 

**o o o**

Ruby went back to her seat at the table when they spotted movement on the stage. Emma watched as a guy with round spectacles made his way there and sat down at the piano. 

Seeing that, Leroy quickly walked to the stage and stood to the side of it. The chattering around the room died down as the small man turned down the lights until the atmosphere was intimate and everyone’s eyes were focused on the stage. There was movement behind the curtain and then suddenly there was a voice singing a very slow a cappella version of a popular song. Emma closed her eyes, swallowing hard. _Darn, she was good._

_Times have changed_  
 _And we've often rewound the clock_  
 _Since the Puritans got a shock_  
 _When they landed on Plymouth Rock._  
 _If today_  
 _Any shock they should try to stem_  
 _'Stead of landing on Plymouth Rock,_  
 _Plymouth Rock would land on them._

Then the music set in and Emma could hear the sound of the curtain being drawn to the side, followed by a collective gasp from the audience. Her eyes were still closed and she was strangely reluctant to open them. It was only when she heard Regina’s amused chuckle at the audience’s reaction that she couldn’t stop her eyes from opening. 

And her jaw from dropping. _Holy good goddamn._

Emma felt lightheaded, as if all her blood had dropped from her head to other body parts. She was suddenly feeling very, very warm. She heard a small laugh close to her but she couldn’t tear her eyes from Regina to see who it was. She grabbed her drink and finished it in one gulp but that didn't help either. Why was everything suddenly getting slightly fuzzy around the edges? The only thing still in focus was Regina. 

Regina in a tuxedo, top hat, tails, and all. 

And then their eyes met across the room. _Oh my God_ , Emma repeated in her head. _Take me now._ She never even registered the hitch in Regina’s voice as she stumbled a little on her next line. 

David did notice. He looked from one woman to the other, not sure whether he should be worried, angry, or happy for his boss. She had gone through so much in her life, and if this blonde stranger could bring her some happiness, he would be happy for her, he finally decided. 

That, however, depended on Emma being still alive after Regina’s set. He poured a glass of water and put it on the bar next to Emma, but the she didn’t react. He saw the color of her face and he laughed a little, shaking his head. Regina did have an effect on people, that much was clear. 

“Breathe, Swan!” he said loudly enough for her to hear over the music. 

Emma gasped, releasing the breath she hadn’t even realized she had been holding. She grabbed the water and gulped it down before finally turning to David with a dazed look and a half-smile she couldn’t help. 

“Thanks, mac,” she wheezed. 

“She’s really something, isn’t she?” David said casually, motioning towards Regina and the stage, admiration in his voice. 

Suddenly a thought hit Emma, and it hit her hard, right in the chest. Was Regina in a relationship with one of her men? With David? The dark-haired one? She doubted Regina would give Leroy a second glance, but both David and the other guy were easy enough on the eyes. 

Jealousy flared in her chest, and she narrowed her eyes. David looked at her questioningly before giving her a grin, obviously reading her body language. “Another deep breath wouldn’t hurt, Swan,” he said softly. “You need to relax if you want to survive the night.” He smiled. “And in case you’re wondering … we’re working with Regina, nothing else.” 

“How did—?” 

“Your face speaks volumes, Swan,” David answered lightly. “You might want to work on that.” 

“Would you believe that I’m usually really good at hiding my feelings?” Emma asked sardonically. “I don’t even know what’s going on with me today.” 

David continued polishing a glass absent-mindedly as he gave her an appraising look. “Oh, I believe you, Swan,” he replied easily. “But Regina is a force of nature and there’s nothing much anyone can do about that.” 

He wondered if he should mention that judging from the looks between them, and the hitch in Regina’s breath when she had seen Emma, the feeling was definitely not one-sided. He watched as the women’s eyes met again and again, and was beginning to feel a little uncomfortable from the rising heat. It was hard to stay unaffected, and he looked around the club to see if anyone else was spotting what he could so easily see, but most patrons seemed completely oblivious. 

Only Ruby and Granny were smirking a little as their eyes tracked the space between Regina and Emma as well. David gave Granny a small wave and a two-fingered salute. _Nice move sending the blonde here, Mrs. Lucas._

He sent them both a drink on the house. 

**o o o**

Regina couldn’t keep her eyes off Emma. The moment she had spotted her sitting at the bar she almost lost the words to a song she had sung a hundred times. Her breath had hitched at the way the black dress, _her_ favorite dress, had clung to Emma’s body in all the right places. Her eyes had traveled down the beautiful body, tracing every dip and curve, never lingering too long in one place. She couldn’t afford to be too obvious but there was no denying the fact that Emma Swan was a very beautiful, very enticing, very attractive woman. 

And then Regina’s eyes had landed on the aviator boots that covered the lower half of Emma’s legs, and her mouth had gone completely dry. What should have looked ridiculous, and would have on any other woman, somehow looked perfect on Emma. 

It didn’t matter that Regina had made Emma wear a dress in an attempt to unbalance her as much as the blonde unbalanced her. It didn’t matter that Emma wore the dress like she wasn’t used to wearing them. She made it work, she made the combination work. Emma Swan remained an aviator, an adventurous soul, deep inside, and despite the suspicions Regina held about her sudden appearance in Storybrooke, she couldn’t help but be fascinated by that. 

Regina wanted Emma, and while she was finishing off the first song of the first set, she found herself hoping that Emma really was just stranded here. She wanted her to be on the level, for Emma’s sake, and her own as well. She wasn’t sure her heart could take the alternative. 

There was a short break after the first song as Killian had to switch his artificial appendage from brush to drumstick but he’d gotten really fast with that over the past year. Regina took the opportunity to look around the audience and take a bow, thanking them for the warm and enthusiastic applause. A discreet tap against the snare told her that Killian was ready and at a nod from her, he and Hopper jumped into the next song. 

_The very thought of you and I forget to do_  
 _The little ordinary things that everyone ought to do_  
 _I'm living in a kind of daydream_  
 _I'm happy as a king_    
 _And foolish though it may seem_  
 _To me that's everything_

Regina’s eyes wandered back to the bar, to Emma who seemed to be talking to David. _Good, maybe he can find out more about her._ She smiled softly as she segued into the next verse, when suddenly there was a commotion at the door, and several people walked into the club. Regina’s smile froze. 

Mayor Gold had arrived. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I already mentioned Maine's prohibition laws in a previous chapter, so I won't go into details here again. But the poor souls in Maine had to (officially and according to the law) stay dry from 1851 to July 1, 1934. 
> 
> The two songs Regina sings in the chapter are "Anything Goes" by Cole Porter and "The Very Thought Of You" by Ray Noble.
> 
> dog soup - water  
> baby, baby juice - milk  
> mac - address for a guy


	7. Chapter 6: Smoke Gets In Your Eyes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: Nothing has changed; I still don't own these characters.
> 
> A/N: I cheated a little with the chapter title since "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes" was written in 1933 by Jerome Kern and Otto Harbach. However, it was a big hit in 1934.

**Chapter 6: Smoke Gets In Your Eyes**

Killian left the club quickly and quietly as soon as they were done with the first set. He went to his room to change into something more suited for snooping around than the suit and tie he had been wearing for the gig. He also swapped his artificial hand from the drum hand he used when playing to the one that had a multi-purpose tool attached to it. It was modeled after the Swiss soldier knife he had seen around on his travels through Europe in the 1920s. 

He stopped in the lobby for a second listening to the faint sounds coming from the club downstairs. He could hear the piano and Regina’s voice, and with a last nod to himself he left the house. There was nobody outside as he got into the car and drove towards the small harbor area. He turned down the headlights as he neared the docks and parked the car well away from the cannery, so as not to attract attention from any of Gold’s goons that could be guarding the buildings. 

Everything appeared utterly deserted as he slowly made his way over to the cannery which was reason enough to raise the tiny hairs at the back of his neck. He stopped frequently to listen for any suspicious sounds but apart from the water splashing against the dock in an even rhythm it was almost eerily quiet. 

o o o 

Emma hadn’t taken her eyes off Regina ever since she had started singing, and she wasn’t planning on letting the woman out of her sight. Which is why she growled when Leroy sidled up to her, clearly inebriated, and almost managed to push her off her bar stool. 

“I think you’ve had enough, Leroy,” Emma hissed once she had righted herself. She glared at him. 

Leroy snorted. “And who are you? Carrie Nation?” 

He turned to David who was talking to a woman with a page boy haircut that didn’t match the very modest, old-fashioned dress she was wearing. Everything about her screamed that she didn’t belong in a nightclub, and Emma would have bet her Lady that the haircut was relatively new. Emma smiled as she saw the glass of milk in front of her. 

“Who’s the mousy dame David is talking to?” Emma asked Leroy who was trying to get David’s attention. 

“That?” he replied, indicating his head in the general direction. “That’s Miss Blanchard,” he explained. “Some dull Sunday school teacher broad. Nolan is completely dizzy with the dame, no idea why.” 

_Indeed,_ Emma thought, although she couldn’t deny her relief at the confirmation that David really wasn’t interested in Regina. She wished David all the happiness in the world with his mousy gal, for entirely unselfish reasons, of course. Her eyes wandered back to Regina, and she didn’t give the nondescript woman at the bar another thought. 

“Nolan!” Leroy shouted next to her, seemingly getting impatient for a drink. 

David said something to his dame and walked over, pouring a drink on the way. But when Leroy reached for the shot glass, David held it out of his reach and put it down in front of Emma. “You’ve had enough, Leroy,” he said seriously, and something in his tone seemed to get through to the stocky man. Leroy nodded and disappeared, walking off somewhere behind the stage. 

Emma held up the fresh drink with a raised eyebrow. David grinned and leaned closer. “Regina is almost done with her second set,” he whispered. “And knowing her you might need that to get through what’s coming next.” 

“What is she going to do?” Emma asked nervously, her grip tightening on her glass. 

“Something she only does when she’s in a very specific kind of mood,” he replied mysteriously, before walking back to Miss Blanchard. 

_Well, that was helpful._ Emma looked back at Regina and wasn’t surprised when their eyes met instantaneously. What did surprise her was the smirk on Regina’s face, and the wicked gleam in those dark eyes she imagined she could see even from this distance. _What on earth is that woman up to?_

Emma downed her drink. She had a feeling with Regina it was better to be prepared for anything. 

o o o 

It wasn’t Killian’s first trip to the cannery and he knew exactly where he was headed. There was a fire escape at the back of the cannery, which he climbed without making a sound. He propped open the large, milky window at the top of the stairs and climbed inside. He landed in a crouch on the metal walkway that ran all the way along the upper floor of the building from the offices on the other side to this fire exit. He cringed when his boots made a dull clanging sound as he landed but nothing and nobody stirred in the building. 

With a deep breath, Killian slowly crept forward until he could see down onto the main floor of the former factory. His eyes widened. Even in the dim light of a single light bulb he could see that the huge room was anything but empty. There were stacks of large wooden crates to one side, and now his nose twitched at the faint smell of gun oil. Stacked against the other side of the room were medium-sized boxes that could hold anything from dope to booze. He had to go down there to check it out. 

It was slow going. Killian knew better than to expect a building that looked empty to actually be empty, so he had to be extra careful unless he wanted to end up with a severe case of lead poisoning. It took him almost ten minutes to work his way down the metal stairs to the lower floor as they were close to the office area where he assumed any of Gold’s brunos to be hiding if there were any. 

He followed the smell of the gun oil to the first set of crates. They were closed so he carefully worked his way along the crates to find one that might be not shut as tightly as the others. At the other end of the room he finally got lucky. One of the crates had been opened before, possibly to inspect the goods inside, and the lid was only resting on top of it. Killian pushed it back a little and got out his small flashlight. 

“Holy shit.” He whistled under his breath. “That’s a lot of hardware.” 

They had been on the right trail, and with this they could get Gold, and finally end this assignment in the boonies. A man like him just wasn’t made for this small town life. It suited Joes like David and Leroy, and even Regina to a degree, but a cake-eater like him? He belonged in the big city where women were beautiful and plentiful, and opportunities were everywhere you dared to look. 

Oh, he would enjoy being back in the apple. 

o o o 

Regina enjoyed the softer set she had to sing with just the piano accompanying her because she got to sing some songs that she didn’t sing all that often, making both her audience and herself happy. 

She walked around among the audience a little bit with these songs, trying to get close to Gold’s table to maybe catch a word here and there. She knew David had been doing frequent booze runs to the table all night to do the same thing, keeping them well lubricated, but once that bible-thumping teacher had shown up, he’d been glued to his bar flapping his gums to her. 

Regina barely avoided walking into tables and chairs when her eyes would invariably track back to Emma. She could see the spellbound way the other woman’s eyes followed her around the room, and she had a hard time not to just walk up to her and kiss her. 

Her brain skidded to a halt for a second as she had an idea. She slowly walked back to the stage while finishing her penultimate song. It was time to end tonight’s performance, and she knew just the thing. She leaned close to Archie Hopper and whispered something in his ear. She smiled at the way he nodded with a grin as if he had expecting nothing less ever since she came out dressed like this. She lit a cigarette, mostly for show and to get the atmosphere right, and started to sing. 

_Lorsque tout est fin_  
_Quand se meurt votre beau rêve_

She stepped down from the stage and made her way through the audience again. Her free hand ran along a shoulder here and an arm there as she wove her way though the tables. She loved the appreciative moans and the slightly nervous laughter she could hear from the less wordly of her patrons. She deliberately stayed away from the bar and kept her eyes away from Emma, even though she would have loved to see the look on her face to see if she had figured it out yet. 

_Maybe she hasn’t seen the picture,_ she thought, _but she would be one of the few in this room._ Most people in the audience apparently had seen the picture judging from the whispers and the murmured names. When she finally chanced a glance over her shoulder in Emma’s direction, she grinned when she saw the woman down a drink as if she was dying of thirst. 

The song came to an end, and Regina finished the last few lines leaning against Gold’s table in a casual manner. The men at the table were staring at her, although not all of them in admiration. Gold’s face was closed off and he mustered her shrewdly, as if he knew what was coming and dared her to continue at her own peril. His moll was staring at her a little slack-jawed, the poor innocent thing. Regina winked at her and the girl giggled into her drink. 

_Les baisers sont flétris_  
_Le roman vite s'achève_  
_Et l'on reste à jamais meurtri_  
_Quand tout est fini_

The applause at the end of the song was loud, and there were wolf whistles from a table nearby. Regina threw a glance at Ruby who just shrugged with a large grin and gave her a thumbs-up. 

Regina glided closer to Gold’s girl, Belle, and leaned in. There were gasps all around from people, and from the corner of her eyes Regina could see a few concerned faces who all seemed to be looking at Gold and waiting for his reaction. Involuntarily, Regina’s eyes wandered to Emma’s face for a second and she could see the woman halfway off her bar stool with an unreadable expression on her face. One of her hands was curled around the bar rail so hard Regina could see the knuckles going white even from her position. 

At the last moment, Regina changed course and only patted Belle’s cheek, blowing her a kiss with another wink. The girl giggled again, and Gold nodded his head with a small, knowing smile. Regina barely managed to refrain from rolling her eyes at the display. Everybody in the room seemed to draw in a breath at the same time, even David behind the bar who had been shooting her warning looks all through the song. 

Emma had sat back down but Regina wasn’t going to let her off the hook so soon. She still had a performance to finish in style, and she had to keep Gold and his entourage interested enough in staying as long as possible. Besides, she was in a devilish mood, and she needed an outlet for it, so she put out her cigarette, grabbed a white carnation from the decoration on Gold’s table and very slowly sauntered over to the bar, twirling the flower in her hand. 

Regina could see David shaking his head with a resigned look on his face but there was nothing and nobody that could stop her now. She stopped in front of Emma, knowing even without looking over her shoulder that everyone in the room was watching her every move. 

“May I?” she asked, raising the flower a little. At Emma’s nod, Regina delicately placed the carnation behind the blonde’s left ear, her eyes never leaving Emma’s. Emma held her breath when Regina’s fingers touched her hair, and her eyes fluttered close. 

Regina was mesmerized by the beautiful face before her, by the breathless anticipation on her features that she knew mirrored her own. Before she could help herself she leaned in and pressed her lips lightly against Emma’s. 

There was a sigh but Regina was unsure whether she had made the sound in her head or if it had been audible to anyone else around them. She broke the sweet kiss after too short a time, and the applause and wolf whistles she received this time from her adoring audience were even louder than before. 

Regina turned around to face the tables and took a bow with a smile, leaving a stunned Emma sitting behind her. She realized something was going on, however, when everyone’s eyes moved to the woman she had just kissed. Curious, Regina turned around and came face to face with a determined-looking Emma. _Uh-oh._

Her brain had no time to form a question before Emma grabbed the lapels of her tailcoat and pulled her into another kiss, completely ignoring the utter impropriety of that move outside of a performance. The kiss was soft and fierce at the same time, and it made Regina go weak at the knees. _Good Lord, that woman could kiss._ The noise around them died away, leaving just the two of them, or maybe it was the fact that all she could hear was her heartbeat thundering inside her head. 

When Emma let go of her after a long, wonderful, still not nearly long enough moment, sounds came rushing back in, and there were two distinct whistles coming from the mostly silent room behind them. 

“Marvelous show, girl,” Granny Lucas yelled loudly into the silence, showing her appreciation and giving Emma and Regina a believable out for their highly inappropriate behavior. “That’s how the Dietrich should have done it.” 

As the applause came back slowly, hesitantly, Regina shot Ruby and Granny a grateful look over her shoulder before turning back to Emma. The blonde was blushing furiously, as if only becoming aware of what she’d done in public, which Regina found endearing enough to want to kiss the look right off her face again and again. 

When their eyes met once more after a moment, she couldn’t resist a wink and a grin, unable to ignore the giddy feeling inside. 

o o o 

Inside the cannery, Killian was happy with what he’d found, but he knew Regina expected him to check the whole place for anything that might be of use to them. _Better check the other boxes as well,_ he thought as he crossed the room and headed for a box in the back where any tampering wouldn’t be detected straight away. He chose the knife on his multi-tool and cut the box lengthwise along the top. He pulled back the cardboard a little and shone his flashlight inside. 

“Holy shit!” he breathed out again. _This is even better._ Maybe Regina would finally let him into her pants when he came home with the big news. He should get back to the club to report what he had found. 

Suddenly there was a small sound behind him and he whirled around. Flashlights turned on, blinding him, and making it impossible for him to see who was there. 

“Well, well, well,” a male voice said, sounding entirely too conversational for the situation at hand. “What do we have here?” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The multi-purpose tool on Killian’s prosthesis is of course based on what is nowadays known as the Swiss Army knife. The Swiss Army knife was invented in 1890 for use by soldiers of the Swiss army and was originally simply called Soldier knife (model 1890). The model Killian would have seen in use was the Soldier knife model 1908, which was produced from 1908 to 1951.
> 
> “Who are you? Carrie Nation?” was a common question for someone who refused someone else a drink during the prohibition. Carrie Nation was a radical member of the temperance movement in Kansas and violently promoted prohibition through vandalism. Her specialty was walking into bars with a hatchet and destroying everything within her reach. She was arrested numerous times for her “hatchetations” but she also had some loyal followers. Bar owners, however, often hung up signs in their bars that read “All Nations Welcome But Carrie”
> 
> Regina finishes her set with the song "Quand l’Amour Meurt" from the movie 1930 _Morocco_ that Marlene Dietrich ends with a kiss to a more or less shocked female patron. While she may have originally planned to kiss Belle to rile up Gold, she couldn’t go through with it in the end since there was someone much more to her liking to kiss. 
> 
>  
> 
> a case of lead poisoning - being shot  
> to be dizzy with a dame - head over heels in love with a woman  
> lead poisoning - to be shot  
> bruno - henchman, hired gun  
> Joe - average guy  
> cake-eater - ladies’ man  
> flap your gums - talk (usually about nothing useful)  
> picture - movie  
> moll - gangster’s girlfriend


	8. Chapter 7: The Bad In Every Man

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own any recognizable characters.
> 
> A/N: I'd like to thank all of you who have let me know they're enjoying my nerdy little trip into history. I'm glad I haven't scared you off yet. :)

**Chapter 7: The Bad In Every Man**

Once the applause died down after Regina's performance and their unexpected kiss, Regina knew she had to go back to doing her job. She gave Emma one last look over her shoulder that let the other woman know that she'd much prefer to stay close to her, and Emma gave her a nod, disappointed but understanding. 

Regina braced herself for what she needed to do next — keeping an eye and both ears on Gold and his entourage — but decided there was one stop she need to make on the way to their table. 

"Good evening, Granny," she said with a small, grateful grin. "Ruby." 

"Quite a performance," the older of the two Lucas women said casually. 

Regina winked at her. "Glad you approve." She leaned over and kissed the older woman on the cheek. "Thank you," she whispered. 

"It was my pleasure seeing you like that," Granny whispered back with a wicked grin, patting Regina's hand. "We got your back, girl, remember that.” 

Regina glanced back at Emma for a second. "Well, you sent her to me, and I'm quite sure you had your reasons. I'm just not sure what they were ..." 

Ruby laughed lightly. "If you had seen the two of you at the diner today, you wouldn't ask that." 

Regina shrugged with a smile. It was true after all. She had felt drawn to Emma Swan from the moment she had seen her, no matter how mysterious her sudden appearance was. Just this once, Regina wanted to ignore all the warning signs and just go for it. She pulled out the third chair and sat. “What do you know about Ms. Swan?” she asked, keeping her voice down. 

Granny and Ruby looked at each other. “About as much as you do, I’d wager,” Granny finally replied. 

“Maybe less given how close you two were just now …” Ruby added with a smirk. 

Regina shook her head. “That was just …” She trailed off unsure how to explain it. 

“Yeah, yeah, part of the performance.” Granny held up a hand to silence Regina. “It wasn’t and we all know it.” Regina glared at Granny but didn’t deny the claim. 

“All we know is that she came into the diner this afternoon,” Ruby explained. “She had a coffee, changed out of her flight suit, and then spent the rest of her stay trying not to stare at you. She failed miserably, by the way.” Ruby chuckled. “Oh, and I think Mike brought her in from the airfield. You should ask him if you want to know more.” She pointed out the mechanic sitting at a back table across the room. 

Regina’s eyes followed her gaze and found a thirty-something guy in his faded Sunday best. She recognized him as one of the regulars but he wasn’t anyone she had ever talked to on her rounds through the audience. He looked over when he felt eyes on him and gave her a shy nod. _Time to introduce myself, I guess._

“I think I’ll go do just that, ladies.” She rose gracefully but a hand on her arm stopped her. “What?” 

“Be gentle,” Granny said. “He has a huge crush on you.” 

“He and every other guy in this room,” Ruby added under her breath. 

Regina nodded. “Don’t worry,” she reassured the women. “I’ll be keeping my kid gloves on.” 

**o o o**

If Emma had a hard time keeping her eyes off Regina before, she was finding it completely impossible now. She stayed sitting at the bar, her eyes glued to Regina, as her brain kept replaying the kiss in her head. She still couldn’t understand what had gotten into her. She got that Regina’s kiss had been part of the performance, or at least she assumed it was — after all, she and Marco had driven all the way to Dubuque when _Morocco_ had come out in 1930 — but what she couldn’t wrap her mind around was her own reaction: it had been impulsive, reckless even. She was done with things like that, wasn’t she? 

_Yeah, that doesn’t sound even remotely like you,_ she heard Marco’s voice in her head, dripping sarcasm from every syllable. 

Ah well, maybe she had never been the most level-headed person in the world … but this? This was on a whole new level, even for her. It was as if her brain had completely shut off the second Regina had kissed her, and even now she couldn’t bring herself to regret it. She was ignoring all the warning signs, everything her life on the streets of Chicago had taught her because she was completely gone on a woman she knew nothing about and who might well be up to no good. She shook her head at herself but even as she did she could feel a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth as she watched Regina talk to Ruby and her grandmother. 

She sighed and saw David shooting her a knowing look. 

_You are in deep, deep trouble, Swan._

**o o o**

Regina deliberately walked by Gold’s table just to see if she could pick up something from their conversation. She saw that Gold was deep in a low conversation with the stranger he had brought with him, which stopped almost immediately when she got close to the table. But it wasn’t before Regina had caught a few words, and what she heard gave her pause. She had no idea that Gold spoke German and that was definitely what she had heard. Something about blueprints, she was sure. But blueprints of what? 

She stopped at their table and gave everyone an inviting smile. “Gentlemen,” she said in the sultry tone she knew had men eating out of her hands. “And Miss French,” she added, bowing before Gold’s moll, who smiled nervously at the gesture. “Is everything to your liking? Can I get you anything else?” 

“Everything’s fine,” Gold snarled, clearly impatient to see her go. 

“Your club really is as fine as I was told,” the stranger and assumed business partner added with a smarmy smile and a light accent. 

“Oh, you’ve heard of our little club then?” Regina put on a wide-eyed look and lighter voice. “Let me welcome you to The Queen’s Club. I am—“ 

“The Queen herself, I assume,” the blonde stranger said, rising out of his seat and taking her hand in both of his. “It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Your Majesty,” he continued as he bent low and pressed his lips to the back of her hand. 

Fighting the urge to pull her hand back immediately and wipe it on her pants, Regina wrestled a smile onto her face. “Please,” she said with a laugh that she hoped didn’t sound as false to them as it did to her own ears, “my name is Regina. Regina Mills.” 

“Viktor Frankenstein,” he replied in pure, gentlemanly reflex, and from Gold’s reaction it seemed the mayor wasn’t too happy that he had revealed his name. 

“I don’t think I’ve ever had the pleasure of seeing you in our little establishment,” Regina commented, slowly withdrawing her hand from his, trying not to grimace. This man gave her the creeps but her job required her to try and make conversation with him, to try and get more information. “Are you new in town, Mr. Frankenstein?” 

“I am just here for a few days on business,” he replied with a relaxed and somewhat patronizing grin as he sat back down. “Nothing to worry your lovely head over, little lady.” 

“You heard my friend, Miss Mills,” Gold interjected smoothly. “And as much as all of us enjoy your company …” His voice indicated the exact opposite which gave Regina a certain sense of satisfaction. “We would like to return to our business.” His tone was just barely skating the edge of friendly and menacing, and Regina could see his other goon, Jefferson, sitting a little straighter in his seat in warning. 

Regina had always been rather good at taking a hint and decided to let it go. She had gotten what she’d wanted anyway. She had a name she could follow up on, and what could even be more significant, she had heard them speak in German about something they definitely didn’t want anyone else to know about. 

She sent a fake smile at the three men and put a hand on Miss French’s shoulder. “We must have tea sometime,” she said with exaggerated friendliness. “I’d love to hear all about that new library that the town is getting.” _I want to see if Gold using it for something he shouldn’t._

Belle French raised her head to Regina with a beaming smile. “Oh, I would positively love that, Miss Mills. We must do that soon.” 

With a curt bow, Regina turned and continued on to Mike Tillman’s table, a soft smile playing around her lips. This was shaping up to be a good night. She had some information, and if they were lucky, Killian would bring back news as well. Maybe they could finally put Gold and his cronies out of business, and she needed to focus on that. 

Her eyes went to Emma without a conscious choice. 

_Focus, yes. You need to focus on the_ important _things._

And Emma was a major distraction. 

**o o o**

Emma watched as the blond man at the mayor’s table put his paws and kisser on Regina and was halfway off her barstool before she caught David’s violent head shake and hissed “Stop!” She froze, then sat back down, not taking her eyes off Regina. 

David came over to her with another drink which he set down in front of her. “She’s just doing her job, Swan,” he reminded her. “So the gink got a little closer to Regina than you’d like but that doesn’t mean you can go over there and gum up the works for her by rapping him.” 

“How is getting slobbered on by some egg a part of her job?” Emma grumbled. “Isn’t it enough for the people that she sings like an angel? That should be enough entertainment for them.” 

“Maybe it should,” David said with an easy smile. “And maybe Regina has a _reason_ for doing what she’s doing. Ever thought about that, Swan?” Emma didn’t reply but David could still see the jealousy behind the stormy eyes. He sighed and leaned closer. “Take this one piece of advice from an old bartender, Swan,” he whispered. “Just because you kissed her once, doesn’t mean you own her.” 

Emma gave him a baleful glare but nodded after a moment. She reached for her drink and started playing with the glass. “It was twice,” she mumbled before she emptied the shot in one gulp. 

David laughed and turned back to his twist, leaving Emma to her thoughts. 

**o o o**

The rest of the night went by smoothly. Regina’s little conversation with Mike didn’t reveal much more than his insistence that Emma’s plane was indeed stranded. He’d seen it come down, he had explained, and unless the pilot was suicidal, nobody would ever go down like that unless they absolutely had to. It had been a miracle that the plane and the pilot had been in one piece, he had claimed. 

Since that fit the information Leroy had whispered to her before the first set about the phone conversation he had overheard, Regina was willing to believe that Emma Swan really was the real deal. Just a beautiful aviator stranded in the middle of a bad situation she had no knowledge of. Regina swore that she would try to keep Emma out of the worst of it, if she could. She just wasn’t sure that was actually possible with her staying in the house with all of them. One more reason to hope this would all be over soon. 

Regina had done a third set of songs accompanied by Hopper and it had been getting late by the end of it. Regina discreetly checked her watch several times. _Where was Killian? If he wasn’t back by now did that mean he found something big? Or that something had gone wrong?_ She was distracted enough by her thoughts that she almost fumbled the lyrics to _Blue Moon_ and from the concerned look on David’s and Emma’s faces that she could see even from the stage, she hadn’t covered that up nearly well enough. 

The club cleared relatively quickly after the last set ended and Regina thanked her patrons, paying special attention to Gold and Frankenstein. As soon as they were out the door, she motioned for Leroy to follow them and make sure they actually left the premises. He went after them and watched as they got into Gold’s brand-new Chevrolet Master and drove off. Leroy returned to the club, locking the entrance behind him and returning to the stock room behind the bar. 

Emma watched everything from her seat at the bar, rendered immobile by indecision. Should she just quietly go upstairs, get out of the way? Stick around and maybe help with whatever needed to be done? What she _wanted_ to do was grab Regina and drag her upstairs so they could talk but she was afraid that wasn’t going to happen from the way Regina refused to meet her eyes. 

Emma played with the glass in her hand as she watched David and Regina count the night’s profits.“Good night?” she asked. 

“Not too bad,” David replied. 

Regina ignored her question, stuffing the stacks of dollar bills into a small satchel instead. “Please take this to the safe,” she asked David, handing him the money. He nodded and walked off, but not before shooting Emma a look over his shoulder and pointing at Regina who was already moving away towards the stage area. 

Emma took that as her cue. She jumped off her barstool and followed the other woman. “Regina, wait,” she called out. “Please?” 

Regina stopped but didn’t turn around. She couldn’t face Emma, not without dragging her off somewhere to kiss her senseless and so much more. That would not be safe for either of them, especially not for Emma, and as much as it hurt, Regina was trying to do the right thing. She should never have kissed the blonde in the first place. She needed to _focus_. 

“What’s going on, Regina?” Emma’s voice was rough. “You kiss me and now you’re ignoring me? What happened between then and now?” 

Regina closed her eyes at the confusion in Emma’s voice. “The kiss was part of the performance,” she said, and was surprised at how hoarse her voice was. _Too much singing and talking tonight, without a doubt._ “I’m sorry it … confused you.” She swallowed hard. 

“Confused me?” _That_ got Emma just angry enough to forget her uncertainty. “The kiss didn’t confuse me, and I _know_ it was part of your performance.” She reached out and grabbed Regina’s shoulder, turning her around a little more forcefully than necessary. 

From what Regina had said she expected to see a sneer or smirk on her face, so she was taken aback by the pleading look. _And was that fear?_ Emma gentled her voice immediately. “I know the first kiss was a performance,” she said softly, “but your reaction to it wasn’t, and neither was mine. And the second kiss definitely wasn’t for show.” 

Regina still refused to meet her eyes, so Emma tilted her head up with two finger until Regina had no choice but to close her eyes. “Look at me, please,” she murmured. “Look at me and tell me I’m imagining things.” 

Regina shook her head. “I can’t,” she whispered, eyes still closed. 

“Why not?” There were only inches between their faces now. Emma’s hand moved to cup Regina’s cheek. “Why?” 

Regina sighed and Emma could feel the breath on her face. It felt like the lightest of kisses, making her lips tingle and her stomach clench. Her thumb unconsciously stroked Regina’s cheekbones and she pulled her closer still. 

“Don’t,” Regina pleaded, heart racing. It was taking all the strength she had not to wrap Emma in her arms. Another fraction of an inch closer to the other woman, and she knew there was nothing left inside her to stop herself. Her self-control was frayed as it was. 

“Or?” 

Emma’s sub-vocal purr didn’t help. Regina sighed again. “Or I’m going to kiss you and never stop,” she growled low in her throat as she finally opened her eyes despite her best effort not to. The look on Emma’s face, the desire, the want, killed the meager remains of her resolve. “And that would be such a bad id—“ 

She was stopped by Emma’s lips on hers, kissing her fiercely. This time around Regina knew the moan she heard came from her because she could feel it working its way up through her body. When she felt Emma’s tongue against her lips there was only a moment’s hesitation, a wisp of a thought that she might still be able to stop, before she allowed Emma to deepen the kiss and pour gasoline on the fire burning inside them both. 

Emma kissed Regina with all she had, tasting, feeling, finding ways to make Regina moan and sigh, never realizing that half the sounds she heard were her own. Her free hand curled into the lapel of Regina’s tailcoat, needing something to grab onto so as not to rip the clothes off of the other woman right here in the middle of the club. 

Emma wrenched her mouth from Regina’s when she felt a hand in the middle of her back, and nails digging into the skin left bare by the dress. She hissed in pleasure and dove back into another kiss, hard, wet and passionate, and she reveled in the feeling of being kissed back with equal abandon. 

The sound of a glass breaking by the bar stopped them before they could go any further, and Regina was secretly glad for the chance to get some composure back. They both took a step back and turned around, blushing fiercely as they came face to face with a roguishly grinning Killian Jones. 

“Now that was a sight for sore eyes,” he commented, pointing between the two women as if it wasn’t obvious what he was talking about. 

“Killian,” Regina said, her voice breathless and shaky. “When did you get back?” 

“Just now,” Killian replied easily but he didn’t meet Regina’s eyes. “I tried clearing my throat a couple of times but you were a little too … _busy_ to notice, I guess.” 

There was something strange in his voice, Regina thought. She had known Killian for more than a year, and she’d never heard that particular inflection before. It could be put down to jealousy maybe but whatever it was, it made the hairs at the back of her neck stand up. 

David and Leroy joined them before Regina could say anything else to Killian. _Back to business then,_ she thought more than a little reluctantly. She turned to Emma who was still standing very close. “Miss Swan,” she started but a finger on her lips stopped her. 

“I know,” Emma whispered. “You have business to attend to. Stop by for a goodnight kiss when you’re done?” 

Regina nodded. “See you later.” 

Emma squeezed Regina’s hand before leaving the room with a wide smile on her face. As soon as the door closed behind her, Regina turned to her men. She told them what she had heard at Gold’s table and David shared what he had heard, which wasn’t much. 

“Okay, David,” Regina finally said, “tomorrow morning you’re going to call the chief and ask him to run that Frankenstein guy. I have a bad feeling about him, and I want to know who he is and what his connection to Gold is.” 

“Will do, boss,” David said. 

Regina turned to Killian. “Did you have any trouble tonight? You looked a little … shaken when you came back.” 

Killian laughed but it sounded hollow to Regina’s ears. “That was probably because of the honey cooler you and the lovely blonde were enjoying. Otherwise it was uneventful.” 

Regina glared at him, daring him to say more on the matter. He raised his hands in surrender, grin still firmly in place. “So what did you find out?” 

“Nothing much.” Killian looked off to the side. “There were a couple of crates in the cannery with the usual hardware,” he replied vaguely. “Chicago typewriters, mostly. Some smaller gats.” He was speaking mostly to his artificial hand at this point. “And then there were a few boxes, packed with neat rows of Cadillacs.” 

“Gold is a dope peddler now?” David wondered aloud while Regina was just watching Killian as he shifted from foot to foot. Something was off about him but she couldn’t put her finger on what it was. She just knew that he had never had any trouble meeting her eyes before, usually with a cocky smirk, so his behavior tonight was strange. Maybe it really did have something to do with the kiss he witnessed. Regina was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt; she owed him that much after a year of working with him. 

“All right, that’s good information,” she finally said. “Maybe it’ll be enough to nail him. Did you find out when they’re shipping the goods and where? Or who our German guest is?” 

Killian shook his head. “Nope,” he answered with a quick shake of his head for emphasis. “A few of Gold’s goons came in before I could check the office and I had to lie low for a while before I could sneak out again.” 

_That certainly would explain why he was gone so long,_ Regina thought. “Glad you made it out okay,” she said with a smile. “Not too much trouble, I hope?” 

“Nah.” And there was the cocky smirk. “Nothing I couldn’t handle.” 

Regina nodded. “Anything else?” She looked at the three men who shook their heads. “Well, then I guess we can call it a night. David, let the chief know what Killian found out, will ya?” 

“Sure thing.” 

“Good work tonight, boys,” Regina said as she turned to go upstairs. “Have a good night.” 

“Not as good as yours,” Killian muttered under his breath, just loudly enough for everyone to hear. 

Regina ignored him but made a mental note to keep a closer eye on Killian, and to ask David to do the same. If there was something wrong with him they needed to figure it out sooner rather than later but before she could focus on the issue, her brain switched to thoughts of Emma Swan waiting for her upstairs. 

**o o o**

Emma felt as if her feet weren’t even touching the ground as she floated up the stairs on the waves of the arousal running through her body, first to the foyer of the mansion, then up to her room. Once there, though, she was unsure of what to do next. She had no idea how long Regina would need to wrap up the day’s business and, more importantly, if the promise of a goodnight kiss would involve just a kiss or maybe, hopefully more. 

Emma was not a chippy by any stretch of the imagination, although she had had her share of affairs during her time in Chicago. Sometimes going home to some joe’s cave made the difference between starving and living another day, and there was always a price to pay. Desperate times really did require desperate measures. 

Those days were far behind her, however, and whatever happened between her and Regina would have nothing to do with a roof over her head or a few drinks. No, if anything happened, and _good goddamn did she hope and pray,_ then it would be simply because Regina was the first person in years who made her feel, who made her want to forget everything that’s good and proper and right, and just _be_. 

Emma bit her lip as she stood in the middle of her room, thinking. She couldn’t very well get naked and present herself like that but she also didn’t want to lounge around in that beautiful dress Regina had made her wear. And putting her jeans back on didn’t sound like the best option either. She looked at the clothes she had worn on her flight here. She was already wearing the only pair of panties she had brought but they were probably a little ruined from the hours of simmering arousal that she’d felt all night. Her other pair of underwear were her long-johns that she had worn under her flight overalls to stay warm. 

She dug around inside her small travel bag to see if she could find something else. _Ha!_ There, in a small inside pocket of her bag she found a pair of boxer trunks that she often used to sleep in. It looked clean enough, so she slipped out of the dress and panties and pulled on the boxers and the button-down shirt she had been wearing under her flight suit. She gently placed the dress back on a hanger and hung it against the armoire in her room. 

_Well, that killed a whole ten minutes,_ Emma realized with a frustrated sigh. She was beginning to feel a little weird, wired and tired at the same time. Arousal was still coursing through her body, making her antsy and impatient, but beneath that was a bone-deep weariness that came with having had a long and exciting day. Maybe it would be better to just lie down and rest her eyes until Regina came upstairs? 

It was that thought that made her yawn, Emma was sure. It had nothing to do with the fact that she had gotten up at 4am to get ready for her test flight. Emma opened the door a little, so as not to miss Regina, and crawled under the insanely comfortable covers. She promised herself five minutes of rest, just so she could be a little rejuvenated when Regina would come by. 

She didn’t even notice when she fell asleep dreaming of goodnight kisses and more. 

**o o o**

Regina checked her watch as she walked up the stairs to the bedrooms. It was much later than she had expected it would be, and she was beginning to feel it. She loved to sing but three sets of songs and the constant entertaining between the sets took it out of her. She refused to succumb to her exhaustion, not when she knew Emma was mere steps away, waiting for her and whatever would happen between them. 

Regina had no idea what she wanted to happen, what she could allow to happen between them, at least not tonight. She knew herself well enough to see the inevitability of them, to recognize that unless she ran far, far away right now, something was definitely going to happen between her and Emma. And while the thought terrified her, it was also wonderful to suddenly realize that she was still capable of feeling things for another person. 

Regina stopped on the stairs as she thought back to the last person who had made her feel that way, so many years ago. She was surprised to realize that it hurt less than it usually did, and then she noticed with a gasp that she hadn’t thought of Daniel at all today. She felt bad about that for a moment until she remembered his dying wish. _Find someone else,_ he had said as he bled out in her arms. _You’re too pretty to turn into an old maid._

_Maybe I’ve found someone, Daniel._ She continued up the stairs and stopped at Emma’s door which was slightly ajar. The light was on, however, so Regina pushed the door open, expecting Emma to greet her with a smile and a reminder about the promised kiss. 

What she found instead made her smile fondly. Emma was sleeping peacefully, wrapped around a pillow and snuggled under the covers. _My God, she’s beautiful,_ Regina thought and before she realized what she was doing she walked over to the bed. Her hand reached out to gently, so gently remove the white carnation from behind Emma’s ear. She set it down on the bedside table as she turned to go. Before she had taken one step, she turned around again, impulsively, and leaned down to press her lips lightly against Emma’s temple. _A promise was a promise._

“Good night, Miss Swan.” She turned down the light and closed the door on her way out, a feeling of inexplicable warmth in her chest. 

**o o o**

Emma had no idea what had woken her up but the short moment of panic as she didn’t recognize the bed she was in had her disoriented for a moment. She looked around the room in the dim orange light that came through the window until she remembered that she was at the mansion, at Regina’s house. 

Her eyes fell on the closed door and the carnation on the bedside table. Regina had come in and she had been asleep. _God, she wanted to hit herself for missing that._

The light through the window seemed to get a little more intense and Emma wondered if that was a spectacular sunrise. Then the dark sky registered in her brain, as did the sound and smell, and suddenly she knew with absolute clarity what had woken her up. 

The mansion was on fire. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Annotations  
> “The Bad In Every Man” is a song from the 1934 movie _Manhattan Melodrama_. It was written by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart. The song is actually _Blue Moon_ with new lyrics written specifically for the movie. The movie _Manhattan Melodrama_ became famous because it was the desire to see this movie that got John Dillinger killed — truly a movie worth dying for. Dillinger couldn’t resist the temptation to see it, so he ventured out to the Biograph Theater in Chicago on July 22, 1934. When he got out of the theater after the movie he was shot by federal agents. 
> 
> Boxer trunks, later called boxer shorts, became popular in the 1920s and stayed popular until the end of the 1930s and the rise of the briefs. They were based on the shorts boxers wore, as the name suggests, and were used as men’s underwear from 1925 onward.
> 
> The Thompson machine gun became famous (or infamous) during the prohibition years as it was the most popular gun used by both gangsters and law enforcement. Among the many nicknames for the gun were Tommy Gun, Chicago typewriter, and Chopper. 
> 
> kisser - mouth  
> gink - a man (maybe a little odd)  
> gum up the works - mess things up  
> rap - hit  
> egg - a crude person  
> twist - woman  
> honey cooler - kiss  
> Chicago typewriters - Thompson machine gun (Tommy Gun)  
> gat - gun  
> Cadillac - one ounce packet of cocaine or heroin  
> dope peddler - dealer  
> chippy - woman of easy virtue  
> joe - average guy  
> cave - apartment


	9. Chapter 8: Heat Wave

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: Not my characters. Pity.
> 
> A/N: I cut this chapter in half because it was getting too long and I had a good stopping point. Not too much historical detail in this chapter. Fair warning: I suck at writing action but needs must and all that ...
> 
> The chapter title is from a song written by Irving Berin in 1933. It was still big in 1934 which is why I felt it was okay to cheat and use it. ;-)

**Chapter 8: Heat Wave**

Emma scrambled out of bed, almost falling on her face in her haste to get up and into her clothes. She jumped into her jeans, glad she was already wearing her shirt and tossed the rest of her few clothes into her travel bag. She couldn’t risk losing the flight suit because it had been a special order for her so she didn’t have to wear one of Marco’s old suits all the time. She refused to give it up. 

As she grabbed the bag, her eyes fell on Regina’s dresses hanging outside the armoire. Emma had no idea what made her do it, but she took all of them, bunched them up and stuffed them in her bag. They barely fit but Emma managed to get them inside and close the bag somehow. 

The smoke was getting more noticeable now, and the flickering light was getting more intense as was the heat. _Time to get out of here,_ she thought and then her brain finally switched on completely. _Regina!_ She had to check if Regina was safe! She tore open the window and tossed her bag as far as it would fly, then slammed the window close again before storming out the door and into the hallway. 

The hallway wasn’t burning yet and Emma let out a breath in relief. There was a thick plume of smoke at the other end of the hallway where the guys’ rooms were but if they were fast, they could make it down the stairs before it became impossible. Emma couldn’t see any flames yet and she certainly wasn’t going to wait around for them either. 

The door to Regina’s room was closed, but that wasn’t going to stop Emma. “Regina!” she yelled as she flung the door open wide. “Wake up, we have to get out of here!” 

Regina jerked upright at the sudden intrusion. “What? Huh?” Her brain felt sluggish after being torn from a too short sleep. “Ms. Swan,” she started again, her voice an interesting mix of confusion and authority. “What’s going on? What are you doing?” 

“No time for long explanations,” Emma urged. “There’s a fire, we need to get out of here!” She turned on the light and began looking around for something to wear for Regina. 

“Fire?” Regina moved slowly, not yet awake enough to comprehend the gravity of their situation. 

“Yes, fire,” Emma confirmed in a strained voice. When she saw that Regina wasn’t moving fast enough, she walked over to the bed and flung away the covers. “Come on, Regina,” she shouted. “Wake up!” 

And then Regina saw the flickering light and smelled the smoke in the air. Her body moved on autopilot as her brain slowly awoke to full capacity. Regina caught the clothes Emma tossed her way and saw that it was the tuxedo she had worn to the club that night. She put on the pants as quickly as she could while Emma tried hard not to stare at Regina’s long legs. _Who could have know that the woman slept in nothing but a silken pajama top?_ Emma closed her eyes and turned away. 

“There’s no time for modesty, Ms. Swan,” Regina said urgently. “We have to get downstairs before everything is ruined.” 

Emma nodded and ran out the door, followed by Regina. They ran into David at the top of the stairs. “David!” Regina sounded relieved. “The safe!” 

David nodded and ran down the stairs. By now the smoke was getting thick and heavy and Emma was struggling with the unfamiliar staircase. There was a hand at the small of her back and when she looked up she saw that it was Regina who was guiding her down through the haze. 

The downstairs area was in chaos. Flames were licking at the walls of the lobby and there was no way anybody would leave the house through the front door. Leroy was standing at the door that led downstairs to the club and waved frantically. “We need to go through the club,” he yelled over the noise of the fire. “It’s the safest route.” 

“Where’s Killian?” David yelled back. 

“He must be outside already.” Leroy shrugged. “He wasn’t in his room.” 

Something didn’t feel right, Emma thought but there was no time to ponder that. She tried to pull Regina towards their only way of escape. “Come on, we have to get out of here.” 

Regina didn’t budge. “Leroy, you and Ms. Swan need to leave _now_ ,” she ordered urgently, pushing Emma towards the smaller man before turning to David. “You and me, the office. We need to check the safe.” 

Emma couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “Are you kidding?” she asked loudly. “You need to get out of here, not go in there!” 

With a nod, Regina sent David off into the office before turning to Emma. “Please, follow Leroy out,” she pleaded with the other woman. “David and I need to get some papers from the office, then we’re right behind you.” She nodded at Leroy and turned to follow David, ignoring the way Emma huffed and struggled against Leroy’s surprisingly strong grip. 

“Come on, sister, let’s dust,” Leroy said grumpily. “You heard her.” With that he dragged a reluctant Emma down the stairs and through the club, not stopping until they were outside. 

They ran into Killian outside who looked suspiciously unperturbed by the fire that was ravaging the building. His clothes were a little disheveled but he was still fully dressed in the clothes he had worn to the club earlier, and there was very little soot and no singe marks on him. Emma instinctively looked down her own body and then at Leroy and compared the state of their clothes to Killian’s. She could see that Leroy was mustering the other man as well but before she could say anything a loud noise made her turn around, and all thoughts of Killian Jones fled her mind. 

One corner of the mansion had collapsed under the heat of the fire. “Regina!” she yelled helplessly, and quite without really realizing she was doing it. She took two steps back towards the house before a set of arms circled her from behind. 

“Let me go!” She tried to fight off Leroy’s vise-like grip but he didn’t let go. 

“Can’t,” Leroy ground out, panting slightly from having to hold onto the squirming woman. “Boss would kill me.” He tightened his hold even more when Emma intensified her movements. “Stop it, sister,” he breathed harshly, “she’s gonna be okay. Trust me!” 

Emma sagged in his arms, her strength leaving her. Her eyes tracked to the club entrance and stayed there as she hoped and prayed for Regina’s safe return. _What on earth could be so important in there that she and David had to risk their lives to get it?_

If Regina got seriously injured over something as meaningless as the club’s profits, Emma would kill her herself. 

**o o o**

“Check the wall safe,” Regina ordered David who was already moving towards the portrait showing Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt. This was the obvious safe that the whole team knew about, the safe that held their guns, badges, some less important files, and the club’s profits. 

It had already been opened. 

“Somebody was in here,” he shouted over his shoulder to Regina who looked up in response. “Looks like some of the files are missing … and one of the guns.” 

Regina nodded, unsurprised. “Take everything else and bring it over here.” 

David removed the their guns and badges with practiced movements and stuffed the files in a money bag from the safe before crossing the room to join Regina in the opposite corner. 

Regina had loosened two floorboards under an area rug, pushed aside a thin, sliding slab of concrete, and had opened the second safe, the one that only she and her second-in-command knew about. It had been a feeling deep down in her gut to keep the existence of this safe from the rest of the team, and not even their superiors in New York City knew about this hiding place. This was where all the evidence they had gathered over the course of the past year was kept. 

This was why someone had set fire to the house. 

“I don’t think this fire was an accident,” David said as he watched Regina open the combination lock. They both jumped as a loud sound came from somewhere not too far away. “Regina, we don’t have time to clear out the safe!” David shouted urgently, not taking his eyes off the flames that were now licking around the doorway. 

“Oh ye of little faith,” Regina said calmly, taking the bag from David’s hands and dropping it into the safe, slamming the door shut and resetting the lock. 

David gave her a sheepish look. “Of course,” he said with a grin. “No safer place than a fireproof safe surrounded by concrete.” They quickly replaced the floorboards just in case but didn’t bother with the rug. The fire was getting closer and David could feel the heat singing the fine hairs on his arms. “Time to scram, boss,” he urged. 

Regina nodded and made her way to the desk. She checked that David was close behind her with their hardware and money from the safe clutched safely to his chest in a small cloth bag. “We can’t go out through the club,” Regina yelled over the roaring of the fire. “Watch out, it’s going to get really hot in here in a second!” 

She took the heavy desk lamp, ripping the cable from the socket. She threw it at the window as hard as she could, then tore down one of the heavy curtains and threw that over the ragged shards sticking out from the window frame. As soon as the glass was broken, the backdraft sucked a huge flame into the room. “Jump, now!” Regina yelled, almost pushing David through the window before diving out after him. 

They had just enough time to roll away from the window and then scramble to their feet and run further into the backyard before the mansion gave another tortured groan and began to crumble. 

And then the room they had just escaped didn’t exist any more. 

“Regina! Regina!” Emma’s scream could be heard even over the sound of the fire and from the other side of the building. The terror in it made Regina’s heart clench. 

“Sounds like somebody’s worried about you,” David said with a small smile on his soot-covered face. Regina shot him a look but he simply smiled more widely. “I think she’s good for you, boss,” he added. “Don’t scare her away.” 

He looked at himself, then at Regina, registering the state of their clothes, the singe marks, the cuts from their jump through the window. Regina followed his gaze, just as the minor aches and pains from their stunt began to register in her mind. “Well, if this doesn’t scare her off …” She trailed off with a shrug. 

“Let’s go find the others,” David said and began to walk towards the front of the house. “Don’t let her wait too long.” 

“David, wait,” Regina stopped him. “Did you notice anything strange about Killian when he got back from his scouting job tonight?” 

“He _was_ kinda squirrelly,” David said after a moment of thought. “Do you think he had something to do with this?” 

Regina exhaled loudly. “I’m not sure,” she admitted, “but his behavior was really strange and he couldn’t look me in the eye.” 

“He usually doesn’t,” David pointed out. “His eyes are usually focused on points further south.” 

“Be that as it may,” Regina replied, “something still didn’t add up.” 

“I agree,” David said seriously, growling low in his throat. “And if he’s behind this I’m going to kill him with my bare hands.” He turned to storm off. 

“No, you won’t,” Regina said silkily as she followed him. “We’re going to watch him, make _sure_ it was him, and then we’re going to feed him false information to find out who turned him. There’s too much at stake to be hasty about this.” 

David nodded reluctantly. “Want me to tell the chief tomorrow when I call him?” 

“No, don’t,” Regina replied quickly. “We don’t know who’s behind this.” 

David simply nodded and they walked side by side around the corner of the house. They saw Leroy, Killian, and Emma before the trio spotted them, and both David and Regina compared Killian’s appearance and behavior to the two others and their own. 

David shot Regina a significant look. “It was him.” 

“Yeah.” Regina didn’t even care that her tone was sad. She had a feeling Gold was behind this but she wondered if she would ever be able to prove it. “Let’s go.” 

Emma saw them first, her eyes drawn to the bushes a short way from the corner of the house. She immediately ran over and wrapped Regina in her arms, uncaring of who might see them or what they might think. “You’re okay,” she breathed. “I thought—“ 

“I’m fine, Emma,” Regina whispered in Emma’s ear, her throat tight from relief and emotion. “I’m fine.” 

Emma only tightened her grip around the slight body in her arms, unable to let go or say anything else. Regina’s eyes met David’s over Emma’s shoulder, and he smiled at them. Then David’s eyes wandered over to Killian and he just knew. 

There was no doubt that Killian was behind this. 

**o o o**

By the time the town’s only fire truck arrived, the mansion was more or less history. Regina knew that was no coincidence given that Gold had his finger in all the town’s different departments, and her thoughts were confirmed by the apologetic look the fire chief gave her. “We couldn’t get the truck to start,” he said, sounding surprisingly sincere as he sent a baleful look at the old Knox fire-engine. 

Regina patted his arm. “It would have been too late anyway,” she said quietly. “These old buildings burn quickly.” And considering the fire engine was almost as old as she was, his excuse may even have been true. 

“I’m sorry,” he said, and Regina had a feeling it was for more than the burnt-down building. She nodded and walked over to Emma and her men. 

“Is it always this exciting here?” Emma asked sardonically. “I thought this was a sleepy little town.” 

“Must be your influence,” Killian replied quickly. “Things only began to get this _exciting_ once you arrived.” 

“What’s your story, morning glory?” Emma turned to face him fully. “You must be smoked if you think I had anything to do with this!” 

Killian raised his hands in apparent surrender. “Just sayin’, kitten.” 

“You’ve said enough, Jones,” David said just as Regina got to within earshot. 

“What’s going on?” 

Emma glared at Killian but said nothing. David just shook his head. Regina decided to accept it for the moment and to ask Emma about it later when she got the chance. “All right then,” she stated, squaring her shoulders. “There’s nothing we can do here, so I suggest we let the fire department work in peace.” 

“You want us to just … leave?” Killian sounded more than a little surprised. “Isn’t there … stuff that we need to check on …” 

Regina assumed he was talking about the files she knew he hadn’t been able to find. “Look around you, Killian,” she told him hoarsely. “Whatever was in the house is now gone.” With that she turned on her heels and walked over to the car. She wanted him to think that his arson job did what it was supposed to. 

“Where are you going?” Leroy yelled while Emma just followed Regina, not wanting to be away from her right now. 

“Granny’s,” Regina replied curtly. “She’ll let us stay for a few days until we can figure out what to do about all this. I’m sure we could all use some sleep.” 

They all piled into the car. It was a close fit but somehow they managed, and David drove them over to the inn. 

It took a few minutes of knocking until Granny opened the door with a threatening expression on her face that morphed into concern when she saw Regina and the state of her face and clothes. “What happened, honey?” she asked as she pulled Regina into the house and a tight hug. 

Regina gave her the short version, and as expected Granny offered them rooms at the inn. “I know Gold closed you down,” Regina said softly. “I hope this doesn’t make it worse for you.” 

Granny laughed darkly. “Do I look like someone who cares, honey? Besides, all I’m doing is letting family stay with me, and who could ever begrudge me that? It’s not like I’m charging you rent for the rooms.” 

“Granny,” Regina warned gently but stopped when the older woman held up a hand. “Thank you.” 

“You’re very welcome.” Granny’s eyes wandered over to Emma who had been very quiet the whole time but hadn’t moved an inch from Regina’s side. Careful not to let her smile show, she came to a decision. She walked over to the reception and took down some keys, then handed one each to the three guys. “Sleep tight, boys,” she said as she sent them up the stairs. 

Then she turned to Regina and Emma. “Now, I know this an inconvenience for you,” she began, her eyes twinkling, “but I only have one room left. It does have a nice big bed though.” She handed a key to Regina, who was too stunned to do anything but take it. Emma’s eyes wandered over the board that held at least two more keys, but Granny just grinned at her. “I’m using those rooms for storage,” she explained loftily. 

“Are you all right with this, Regina?” Emma asked, the first words she had spoken since they had left the mansion behind. 

Regina watched the way Emma’s hands clutched her bag, knuckles white. She wondered what went on in the other woman’s mind. She knew they should talk about things, about them, about the fire, about everything. She could see the questions burning in Emma’s eyes, and she had no idea if and how to answer them. 

For now she sighed, despite the knowledge that sharing a room with Emma would complicate things immensely because if there was one thing she was certain about right now, it was her doubts about being able to keep her distance from the other woman. _You definitely weren’t able to stay away from her until now_ , a voice in her head reminded her unnecessarily. 

“It’s fine,” she finally replied with a smile. “Let’s go get some sleep.” She hugged Granny one last time before slowly trudging up the stairs, one hand unconsciously resting in the small of Emma’s back. 

They were halfway up the stairs when they heard Granny’s stage whisper behind them. “By the way, I hope you enjoy the honeymoon suite.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Annotations  
> The Knox fire engine was one of the first modern fire engines, manufactured in 1905 in Springfield, Massachusetts by the Knox Automobile Company. The Knox Automobile Company was founded in 1900 and built cars between 1900 and 1914. The production of tractors, trucks, and fire-engines continued until 1924, the year the company went under.
> 
> let’s dust — let’s leave  
> What’s your story, morning glory? — What do you mean by that?  
> smoked — drunk


	10. Chapter 9: Lost In A Fog

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters.
> 
> A/N: _Lost In A Fog_ is a 1934 song by Dorothy Fields and Jimmy McHugh. I almost called the chapter _Rude Interlude_ after the Duke Ellington piece from 1934 because a) it is an interlude with a Regina/David moment that I felt was needed, and b) still no sexytimes, which some might consider rude. ;-)

**Chapter 9: Lost In a Fog**

By the time Regina and Emma had made it to their room, the silence between them had turned awkward, filling the space between them with lead. If Granny had known what her remark would cause, she would probably have swallowed her tongue and kept it back. 

Emma looked around the room before dropping her bag on a chair in the corner. The room was nice enough, if smaller than the one she had used at the mansion, and the bed looked comfortable enough. But it looked small to Emma, and getting smaller the longer she stared at it. 

Hours before Emma would have looked forward to sharing the bed with Regina with nothing but nervous anticipation. Now, however, dread had joined her feelings. Who was Regina? _What_ was she that someone would burn down her house while they were all inside? Emma took a deep breath and steeled herself for a conversation she knew they would have to have before she could even think about sharing the room with the other woman. 

Regina watched Emma carefully as she took in the room, and saw the doubts on her face as clearly has if she had voiced them. _I’m so sorry this happened tonight,_ she told Emma in her head because she had no idea if she would be able to actually say the words. 

_Damn, Killian._

Her eyes misted over when she thought about him, probably sleeping peacefully in his room a floor below them. How could he just throw away a year of working together, of being friends, of trust? Well, apparently he didn’t trust her enough to come to her if he had problems. _I hope whatever they promised you was worth risking your friends’ lives for._

At least he hadn’t gotten the files he’d wanted and she congratulated herself on her foresight. That reminded her that she should probably talk to David to set up things for the next day. They needed to retrieve the files and keep an eye on Killian so he wouldn’t try to hurt any of them again, and with him as a mole, their team was stretched thin. 

Regina cleared her throat which by now was feeling scratchy. “Why don’t you go and clean up a bit,” she suggested gently, pointing at Emma’s sooty clothes and tenderly removing a spot of grime from her cheek with her thumb. 

Emma reared away from the hand touching her face and immediately felt bad when she saw the hurt in Regina’s eyes. “Sorry,” she mumbled. “I was just thinking … sorry.” 

Regina wrapped her arms around herself, pressing her hands against her sides so she wouldn’t be tempted to reach out again. “The bathroom is down the hall,” she said hoarsely, her voice level and a little distant. “I have to go down and talk to David for a moment.” She turned towards the door. “I’ll bring some water from the kitchen as well, assuming your throat feels like mine does,” she added over her shoulder, not turning around. They were back to square one with each other, bristly and uncertain, and Regina had no idea what to do about it. _Honesty would help,_ her mind reminded her haughtily. But honesty required trust and while she believed that Emma had nothing to do with Gold and was just an innocent bystander, she had no reason to trust her. No _evidence_ she could trust her. 

Emma nodded gratefully. Now that Regina mentioned her throat, she noticed the slightly burning sensation. “Water would be good, thanks.” She turned to grab her bag and heard the door open and close behind her, the sound leaving her sad and relieved at the same time. 

They definitely needed to talk. 

**o o o**

David opened the door immediately after the quite tap-tap-tap of Regina’s knuckle, looking freshly showered but still in his sooty clothes. When Regina smirked at his quick reaction, he just shrugged with a grin. “I had a feeling you might be coming by.” 

He closed the door quietly behind her. “I already talked to Leroy,” he continued in a low tone. “He’s in the room right next to Killian’s and will keep an eye on him tonight.” 

“Thank you,” Regina said sincerely. “That leaves one of us free to go to the mansion and keep an eye on the scene.” 

David nodded. “I’ll go,” he offered readily. “I’m going to take a nap, then I’ll head back to the house.” 

Regina almost offered to go just to avoid the talk with Emma that she knew was waiting for her. David sensed it and quickly shook his head. “I’ll go,” he repeated, then decided to press the issue a little. “If you have a problem sharing with Emma for some reason, you’re welcome to share my bunk for the night.” He pointed to the narrow metal bed in the corner of the room. “But I don’t think you want that.” He grinned. 

Regina patted his arm. “Thank you, I’ll pass.” She took a deep breath, finding his presence relaxing. They had known each other for a decade, he’d been there for her during the hardest time of her life, and she knew he was the one man she trusted above any others. “Have I mentioned lately how much I appreciate you?” she whispered quietly. “Even if you have a deplorable taste in women?” 

David laughed as he pulled Regina into a hug. “My taste in women is just fine,” he said. “It’s just not your taste, and isn’t that a good thing?” He chuckled. “Imagine me being attracted to, say, Emma Swan. Nah, leave the nice, normal woman to me, and you stick to the adventurous type.” 

Regina shoulders tensed at the mention of Emma’s name. David noticed and pulled out of the hug to look into her eyes. “What’s going on? Did Emma say anything?” 

Regina shook her head. “But she’s going to,” she whispered. “I could see the questions and doubt in her eyes.” 

“Can you blame her?” David asked, ever the voice of reason. “She’s suddenly dropped into a situation completely out of her control where she runs into the smoothest pip in town, and has her wig blown by you. And _then_ she finds herself in a burning building with no idea what’s going on.” 

Regina digested his words for a moment. “Do you think I should tell her the truth?” 

“About what?” David asked. “About us being G-men? Or about you being completely dizzy with her?” 

Regina snorted. “The former, you twit,” she hissed. “Because I’m certainly not in love with her.” 

“You sure about that?” David smiled gently. “Remember, I’ve seen you in love before, and it definitely looked the same.” 

That shut Regina up. “I can’t … that’s not possible after one day,” she stammered. “It doesn’t work that way.” 

David took pity on her. “Regina, the first time I ran into Mary-Margaret at the diner I knew after three seconds that she was the one for me,” he said softly. “It doesn’t happen often, but it’s damn well possible.” 

“Great, more things to worry about,” Regina tried to joke but it came out brittle and hollow. “Now about us … why we’re here.” 

David shrugged. “Tell her,” he told her matter-of-factly. “I don’t know why but my gut says to trust her.” 

Regina swallowed. “So does mine, and it’s very unsettling.” 

“For you? I bet.” David pulled her back into the hug. “You haven’t trusted anyone since Daniel died.” 

“That’s not true,” Regina replied. “I trust you. And Leroy.” 

“And Granny,” David added. “Yeah, I know.” 

“But I also trusted Killian to a certain degree,” Regina admitted sadly. “And look where that got us.” 

David sighed. “Leroy wants to wring his neck,” he growled. “I want to fill him with daylight—“ 

“Get in line.” Regina took a step back from David and squared her shoulders. “Okay, if Emma wants to talk, I’ll think about telling her.” 

“Good,” David walked over to his bed. “Let her in, Regina. Trust her … I think it would be good for you.” He saw Regina open her mouth, so he continued quickly. “If she hurts you in any way, I’ll be there for you.” 

“You’re such a skirt sometimes,” Regina said with a grin. “Thank you.” 

“Mary-Margaret says it’s one of my best qualities.” 

Regina turned to go. “Thanks for everything,” she said, giving him a sincere smile. 

“Wait,” David called her back, voice still low. “Take your gat and buzzer, in case Emma wants proof.” He handed her the items. “You want the bracelets too?” He waggled his eyebrows suggestively. 

Regina laughed, her heart lighter than it had been ten minutes earlier. “Not tonight,” she whispered with a wink. She opened the door but looked back over her shoulder once again. “David, take a long nap,” she ordered. “It’ll take a long while for the safe to cool down enough to touch it.” 

David nodded. “Good luck,” he whispered as Regina walked out the door. “Although you won’t need it.” 

**o o o**

Emma was slightly stymied by the bathroom. It was big, for one, almost as big as the room they were staying in, and it was the first time she had seen a bathroom with a bathtub _and_ a separate shower. The most peculiar shower she had ever seen. Since she was feeling too on edge for a bath, she girded her mental loins as she carefully climbed into the metal contraption in one corner of the room. It felt like entering a big metal ribcage but once she managed to get the water going by turning the many faucets more or less randomly, it felt heavenly. Emma gasped in pleasant surprise when water hit her not only from above but also at waist height. _Jesus, why didn’t anyone have this kind of shower?_

Emma took her time in the shower as she tried to calm her thoughts and feelings. Everything was a jumble. That morning she had breakfast in her kitchen at home with Marco before climbing into the cockpit of her airplane for a routine test flight. Now she was looking at spending the night in a room with the most beautiful woman she had ever seen, a woman who was both alluring and mysterious. 

A woman she couldn’t look at without wanting to tear her clothes off. 

Emma groaned as her mind conjured up an image of Regina in her silken pajama top, long legs bare beneath. She tried to shake the image off, wanting to keep her cool for the talk ahead. And they _would_ talk, _needed_ to talk before anything else could happen. 

If she could keep her hands to herself, that was. 

**o o o**

Regina took a quick shower in the simpler downstairs bathroom, happy that Granny usually kept her bathrooms well stocked in towels and toiletries. She only put her pajama top and panties back on and tucked the tuxedo pants under her arm with her gun and badge rolled up inside. The shower made her feel better and more prepared for joining Emma in their room again. 

After a quick trip to the inn’s kitchen for a pitcher of water and two glasses, she was standing in front of their room. With a deep breath, she opened the door. 

And almost dropped the pitcher at the sight that awaited her. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Annotations:  
> smooth — well-dressed  
> pip — attractive person  
> blow your wig — become very excited  
> twit — fool, idiot  
> fill someone with daylight — shoot someone  
> skirt — woman  
> gat — gun  
> buzzer — police badge  
> bracelets — handcuffs
> 
> The shower that has Emma confused (and enthralled) is a rib cage or needle shower (google either term to get some pictures). It was a luxury item that not many people had in their homes, so Granny obviously went all out when she added a separate shower to the top floor bathroom. It needed a lot of water, at least the models that had lower shower heads as well as the rain shower head at the top.  
> As for Emma’s question as to why not anyone had one like that? They were really expensive. Plus, having a shower at all, even one attached to the wall over the bathtub like we have today, was a luxury anyway up until the late 1920s, and most middle-class houses only had bathtubs. Plus, taking showers was considered a thing for men rather than women well into the 1930s because — gasp — the water spray was considered dangerous for those frail, delicate women … and could also be considered – double gasp – stimulating …


	11. Chapter 10: All Through The Night

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own these characters. More's the pity.
> 
> A/N: I'm sorry that it took a little longer between updates this time but work is kicking my erm ... lower posterior at the moment, sucking out any creative urges I might have.   
> I also want to take the opportunity to again thank each and every one of you who is reading this. This story has come to mean a lot to me, and I'm glad I'm not only writing it for myself. :)

**Chapter 10: All Through The Night**

Regina swallowed hard as she stood in the doorway to their room, trying desperately to keep her suddenly sweating and trembling hand from dropping the pitcher. 

Emma was wearing nothing but what had to be the smallest towel Granny owned, or so Regina suspected. And she was leaning over the chair in the corner, rummaging around in her duffel bag, offering Regina a view that racked up her body temperature several degrees. 

Shakily, Regina put the pitcher down on the dresser by the door before turning around and closing the door, feeling strangely overdressed in her pajama top. And here she thought she could get a reaction out of Emma by returning to the room like that. But instead of throwing Emma off-balance, she was the one who ended up feeling decidedly shaken. 

Regina cleared her throat when Emma didn’t show any signs of having heard her entrance. “Ms. Swan.” It came out croaky and strangled, and not just due to the state of her throat. She poured herself a glass of water with one hand, the other still clutching the bundle with her pants and hardware to her body, and gulped it down before trying again. “Ms. Swan.” 

Emma looked over her shoulder and straightened quickly. “Oh, sorry,” she squeaked, and Regina couldn’t tear her eyes from the way a blush spread over Emma’s pale body. “I didn’t hear you come in.” 

Regina pointed towards the towel while also desperately trying not to stare. “I can see that,” she said. 

Emma looked down her own body, letting out an embarrassed chuckle, which came out low and enticing after all the smoke she had inhaled. Wordlessly, Regina poured another glass and handed it to Emma. “Thank you,” the pilot said, taking the glass from Regina and emptying it in one long gulp. Her other hand kept a firm grip on the towel. She gave Regina a sheepish smile. “I really didn’t mean to walk around like this,” she explained, “but I forgot a change of clothes when I went to the bathroom and …” 

She trailed off with a half-shrug when she saw the expression on Regina’s face. She wondered if this was the last thing a gazelle saw before it was pounced on by a lioness. She swallowed hard, arousal shooting through her at that look, and lifted her glass again, dismayed when she found it empty. 

Regina couldn’t tear her eyes away from Emma, no matter how much she knew she should behave better. She shouldn’t keep staring but Emma wasn’t making it easy for her to look away. Regina knew she had been caught when Emma swallowed audibly and then, surprisingly, stood up a little straighter, exuding an air of sexy confidence. 

_Jesus._ Regina suddenly found it difficult to follow their rather simple conversation. What had Emma been saying? Oh, yes … “It’s not like we have a lot of choices after the fire,” she muttered sadly. “At least you seem to have your bag,” she mentioned, a frown crinkling her forehead. 

From one second to the next there was a niggling sense of suspicion she just couldn’t help. Had Killian been right? Had Emma been prepared for the fire? It certainly looked that way. That would mean he was innocent after all, and she was in this room, half naked, with someone who had tried to kill her. “How did you get your bag from the house?” she asked casually. “I don’t remember seeing it when we ran outside.” 

Emma gave Regina a strange look at the sudden change in tone in her voice. There was a distance there that hadn’t been there a moment before, an almost forced sense of obvious casualness. “I tossed it out the window so I would have my hands free in case I needed to help y— … someone,” she explained simply, injecting as much sincerity into her tone as she could. “When I woke up and the house was burning, I just grabbed most of my stuff, crammed it into the bag, and tossed it.” She shrugged as if the idea was nothing special. 

“Are you in the habit of never leaving your bag behind?” Regina asked, suspicion not yet gone. “There must be something very important inside. Tell me, Ms. Swan, what would I find in your bag if I looked inside?” Her voice was low and silky, and twice as threatening because of it. 

Emma shivered at the dangerous tone, even though she was slightly offended. After all, she was the one who had gone to save Regina, she was the one who was in a situation she had no control over, a situation at the center of which she suspected Regina and whatever she and her boys were up to. Throwing suspicion her way? Now _that_ just made her angry. 

“Feel free to take a look,” Emma growled, tossing the bag over to Regina, who caught it on reflex, dropping her bundle to the floor in the process. Regina quickly dropped Emma’s bag and bent down to retrieve the items that would betray who she really was. At the moment she really wasn’t sure she wanted to share that information. Maybe she should have sent David in here to talk to Emma, she thought with a sigh. 

“Why would I want to talk to David?” Emma asked, obviously confused, as Regina realized she had muttered the last bit out loud. “Why can’t _we_ talk to each other, Regina?” 

Regina closed her eyes. “Because, Ms. Swan,” she said softly. “I for one have a very hard time talking when you’re standing there like that.” She wrapped her gun and badge in the pants again, hiding them from view, and put them on the dresser. “If you want to talk, I suggest you put on some clothes,” she added hoarsely. 

“Says the woman who is threatening to give me a heart attack by walking around in shirt.” And no matter how much she agreed with Regina about the state of their undress, she couldn’t stop herself from uttering a challenge. “What if I don’t?” 

Regina breathed deeply several times. “Then I’m quite afraid not much talking will get done here tonight,” she finally admitted in a growl. 

“Oh?” Now that sounded interesting. Emma took a lot of pleasure in knowing that she had the same effect on Regina that the other woman had on her. But while every cell in her body urged her to just grab Regina and pull her body against her own, she knew she would regret it in the morning. She had to know what was going on first. 

“Yes, oh.” Regina really tried to look away from Emma who was taking a step towards her, and then another. “Please, Emma …” 

Emma pretended to look innocent. “You have my bag,” she said nonchalantly. “And my clothes are in there.” 

Regina held out a hand to stop Emma from coming within touching distance. “Stay where you are,” she ordered. She kneeled down and looked into the bag, determined to toss Emma something to wear. Anything would do at this point. What she encountered, however, stopped her immediately. Hand still buried in the bag, she looked up and gave Emma a tender, if somewhat confused smile. “You saved the dresses?” she whispered roughly. 

Emma lost her breath at the soft look on Regina’s face. This was a look that made her want to get down on her knees and swear _forever after_ to the woman in front of her. This was a look that didn’t make her stomach clench, but her heart. She knew right then that it probably wouldn’t matter much who Regina really was, what she did or didn’t do when she wasn’t singing in her club. Emma could get burned badly by this woman but it would probably be worth it. 

“I couldn’t let them burn.” Emma returned the soft smile, unknowingly eliciting the same response in Regina that she had just experienced. “I liked the way you looked at me when I was wearing the dress tonight, no matter how doggy I felt.” 

“You looked breathtaking in it, dear,” Regina admitted before adding, “It’s my favorite dress.” She pulled said dress out of bag, trying not to frown at the state of it. 

Emma noticed. “I’m sorry,” she said quickly and more than a little sarcastically. “There wasn’t time to put them away in an orderly fashion.” Not that she had the first clue how she could have prevented the material from ending up the way it did. 

Regina made a face. “It’s all …” She didn’t finish, grateful that Emma had thought of doing this for her at all. But then … “The seam is torn,” she realized sadly. 

Emma couldn’t help but grin. This woman had some strange priorities. “Are you really complaining about the way I saved your favorite dress?” 

“Well, at least we won’t have to resort to a gooseberry lay in the morning.” Regina saw Emma’s raised eyebrow and the teasing smile around her lips, and found herself unable to keep a straight face. She dissolved into laughter right there on the floor, clutching the dress to her chest, wrinkling it even further. After a second of confused hesitation, Emma joined in, successfully breaking the tension that had risen between them ever since their arrival at Granny’s. 

“I think I needed that,” Emma gasped once their laughter had died down. She pulled a wife beater and her jeans from the bag and walked to the door. “Let me just go and get dressed,” she said as she opened the door. “And when I come back, I think it’s time we talked.” 

“Yes, it is,” Regina agreed. 

**o o o**

Not ten minutes later Emma and Regina were sitting on the bed, Regina leaning against the headboard, bare legs hidden beneath the covers, and Emma sitting cross-legged at the foot of the bed. It was a distance they both seemed to deem safe for their talk. 

But there was no talking going on. It was obvious that as soon as they allowed some actual physical space between them, awkwardness crept in, frustrating them both. Regina was waiting for Emma to ask questions, afraid to reveal too much if she was just going to start talking, while Emma was hoping Regina would simply explain the things she wanted an answer to. 

“Are you ever going to start spilling?” Emma finally asked with a huff. 

Her tone immediately put Regina on the defensive. “Spill _what_ , Ms. Swan?” she rumbled deep in her throat. She wished they had booze instead of just water. 

“Back to that, are we?” Emma rolled her eyes. “Look, I don’t even know where to start, dammit,” she huffed. “Why did I almost die tonight? Who _are_ you that somebody would try to kill you? I don’t think the fire was an accident, and I think I have a right to know what I landed in here.” 

“Literally,” Regina muttered. 

“Yes, being a smartass is so helpful,” Emma grumbled. 

“Emma,” Regina whispered. “This isn’t easy for me, you have to understand—“ 

“Regina,” Emma interrupted. “Listen, I know what it’s like to be in a difficult situation, I’m certainly no stranger to it myself.” She ran a hand through her blonde locks. 

“I grew up on the streets of Chicago,” she continued softly. “I know from experience how quickly you can end up on the wrong side of the tracks.” She met Regina’s eyes. “So just tell me what’s going on, okay? Are you guys grifters? Hiding from the law? Is the club secretly more than just a gin mill? Are you laundering money for the mob? Making sourdough in the basement? Who did you piss off … and what’s Gold’s part in all of this?” She sighed. “Just give me something!” 

By the end of Emma’s increasingly impassioned rambling, Regina’s jaw was hanging open. And then she did something Emma didn’t expect at all. 

She laughed. 

“What’s so funny?” Emma was really not amused. 

“Nothing,” Regina said with a smile. “Just … you and me, you know.” 

“No, I don’t know. What’s that supposed to mean?” 

“You think we’re with the mob,” Regina pointed out. “And I thought you were working for Gold.” 

“What? Why would you think that?” Emma asked, sounding offended. 

Regina waved her hand. “Never mind,” she said. “If I still thought that, we wouldn’t be sitting here, having this conversation.” 

Emma blew out a frustrated breath. “But we’re not _having_ a conversation,” she hissed. Regina nodded and got up from the bed to walk over to the dresser. Emma couldn’t tear her eyes away from her legs, nor from the patch of skin she could see peek out through the gaps between the buttons of her pajama top. “Where are you going?” she asked once she felt confident it wouldn’t come out in a moan. 

Regina ignored her as she picked up her pants and unrolled them. She picked up the badge with her left hand and the gun with her right, hiding the badge behind her back before turning around to face Emma, gun pointed straight at her. 

“Woah,” Emma jumped off the bed. “Seriously, Regina?” 

Regina immediately lowered her .38 Colt PPS. “What? No,” she cried out. “I’m sorry, it’s just a habit.” 

“You have a habit of pointing guns at people?” 

“It’s in my job description, Ms. Swan,” Regina replied calmly and just a little condescendingly. She held out her left hand and revealed the badge hidden in her palm. “Take it,” she said softly when Emma made no move. 

“You’re a _copper_?” Emma made it sound as if Regina had just told her she was a fairytale character. 

“Special agent, actually,” Regina replied as she took Emma’s hand and dropped the badge in her hand. “Division of Investigation.” 

“This looks brand new,” Emma murmured. “Is this even real?” 

Regina sighed. “Yes, it’s real,” she said patiently. “And it looks brand new because it’s a new design and we just got these.” 

“You’re _G-Men_?” Emma ran her thumb over the words on the badge. “But how? I thought there weren’t any women agents.” 

“There aren’t, apart from me.” Regina took the badge back, and put it and the gun back on the dresser. “I’m a bit of a special case … _this_ is a special case.” 

“And David and Killian and—“ 

“All agents.” But there was a faint trace of hesitation in Regina’s voice. “We’re here undercover …” 

“But you think one of them betrayed you,” Emma stated. “Killian?” 

“I think he was turned, yes,” Regina confirmed her suspicion. “I think he started the fire tonight to destroy all the evidence we’ve collected so far.” 

“That’s why he tried to put the blame on me …” Emma growled. “You’re after Gold, right? What made you think I’d be working for him?” 

Regina smiled. “He’s planning something big for this week, and having a plane conveniently show up when he needs to transport contraband was just too much of a coincidence.” 

Now it was Emma’s turn to laugh. “I think I should take you to meet the Lady tomorrow morning, so you can see her for yourself,” she offered. At Regina’s confused look she added. “The Lady is my airplane, and it’s good for a lot of things but not transporting anything bigger than two people and a couple of bags.” 

Regina took a step closer to Emma, ending up just a few inches from her. “So you’re really just a pilot,” she whispered with a smile. 

Emma swallowed at the close proximity of the half-naked woman she found so irresistibly attractive. “Test pilot, yeah,” she rasped. “And you’re a copper.” 

“Agent,” Regina murmured as she inched even closer, not taking her eyes off Emma’s. 

“Flatfoot.” Emma’s hand wandered to the lapels of Regina’s pajama top without her conscious choice. 

“Charming,” Regina muttered as her fingers ran up Emma’s arms, making the tiny hairs stand up and a shiver run down Emma’s spine. 

Emma gasped. “Gumshoe.” She licked her lips, her eyes flicking from Regina’s eyes to her mouth. 

“Agent,” Regina insisted once more, one hand moving into Emma’s hair, the other fisting the front of her wife beater. She saw Emma open her mouth to call her something else and growled low in her throat. “Don’t you dare.” 

Emma gave her an evil grin. “Di—“ 

Emma never got to finish as Regina’s lips claimed the sound, turning it into a moan instead. Emma’s hands clenched in the silken fabric of Regina’s top, pulling the other woman as close as physically possible. Their kiss started out soft, a gentle taste, a soft reconnection, but turned hot and wet within seconds. Emma moaned into Regina’s mouth as their tongues met again and again, teasing softly, playing hard to get, discovering the best way they fit together in their dance. 

Regina wrenched her mouth from Emma’s before she was entirely unable to control herself. “Do you … don’t you think … do you think this is a good idea?” she panted, voice breathless and raspy, mouth pressed against Emma’s throat. 

“I don’t know,” Emma replied with a small moan, and she really didn’t. “I just know that I’ve never wanted anyone the way I want you.” She captured Regina’s lips again, the kiss burning them both with its passion. 

Regina was entirely helpless against the onslaught of feelings Emma’s words caused in her body. Her insides clenched, and from the throbbing of her core she suspected that her center had a direct link to her eardrums. Heat rushed from her belly outward to every cell of her body, causing her to clench her fists in Emma’s shirt and hair. She knew in that moment that this had the ability to destroy her if it turned out that she and Emma weren’t on the same page. This was the moment when she realized that David had been right: she was falling in love with this woman. 

“I want to make love to you,” Emma murmured in her ear, gently nibbling on Regina’s earlobe. “Please.” 

It was Emma’s choice of words that allowed Regina to let go, to give herself permission to feel it all, to let this happen. With a growl she grabbed the hem of Emma’s wife beater and pulled it up and over Emma’s head, almost ripping the fabric in the process. 

The ferocity of the action almost caused Emma’s knees to buckle as her arousal climbed impossibly higher. Her fingers began pulling at Regina’s top, threatening to just yank it off. 

“Please don’t,” Regina whispered with a small smile. “Right now this is the only shirt I own.” 

Emma pressed a kiss to Regina’s jaw as she set to working the buttons one by one, a task made so much more difficult by the way Regina licked and nibbled on her throat, right below her ear. When the final button was opened, she pushed the silken top to the floor, not caring where it fell or what happened to it. All she cared about was the sight before her. 

“You’re so beautiful,” Emma breathed, almost inaudibly. “So damn beautiful.” 

Regina empathized with the awe in Emma’s voice as she felt the same thing when looking at Emma. “You’re magnificent,” she whispered, running her hands over Emma’s torso, watching goosebumps erupt where she touched. “Absolutely magnificent,” she added with a small flick of her thumbs against Emma’s nipples. 

That proved too much for Emma’s patience. With a groan she turned Regina and gently pushed her onto the bed, then crawled after her, slowly covering her body, dropping kisses from her navel all the way up to her mouth. Her hands tried to touch everywhere at once, wanting to do everything to Regina, and all at once. 

Her hands cupped Regina’s breasts, fingers teasing the dusky nipples until they were impossibly hard. Regina’s continuous moans were her reward and she sucked one nipple into her mouth to see what other noises she could coax from Regina’s body. 

Regina groaned as Emma’s mouth covered first one breast, then the other, flicking back and forth between them. Regina’s arousal was growing steadily, exponentially, embarrassingly quickly. Needing to get some control back, she flipped the over and offered Emma’s nipples the same treatment before working her way lower. 

All coherent thought fled Emma’s mind when Regina began her slow descent down her torso, trailing her tongue, lips and teeth over every surface, running over the dips and curves of Emma’s stomach muscles. When she reached the jeans still covering Emma’s lower half, she paused and gave Emma a look from beneath dark lashes. Wordlessly she tugged at a belt loop. 

“You were the one who wanted me to put them on,” Emma reminded her with a chuckle and a raised eyebrow. 

“I’ve changed my mind.” But Regina didn’t make a move apart from running her fingertips slowly over Emma’s skin just above her hipbones. 

Emma had enough of waiting. Her fingers flew to the buttons of her jeans, ripping them open and pushing the fabric down until Regina finally took over and pulled them all the way off, leaving Emma suddenly very naked. _Oh, forgot about that,_ Emma thought. 

Regina didn’t miss the way Emma looked suddenly self-conscious. “You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen,” she said softly as her eyes freely roamed over Emma’s body. 

“Your mirrors must all be damaged then,” Emma quipped. She reached out and tugged on the waistband of Regina’s panties. “Off?” 

Regina nodded, holding her breath, even more so when Emma sat up and oh so tenderly removed the last piece of clothing from her body. The second the offending garment was gone, Emma pulled Regina into her arms and reclined again, pulling the other woman on top of her. They both groaned at the feeling of their naked bodies meeting from head to toe for the first time, and kissing again seemed like the next logical move. 

“Touch me,” Emma begged between kisses. “I can’t wait to feel you.” 

Regina saw no reason to deny Emma her wish and trailed one hand down Emma’s body, taking her time to linger here and there. By the time she reached her goal, Emma was trembling beneath her, one hand curled around Regina’s body, the other gripping the sheets so hard her knuckles were white. 

Regina leaned on one elbow and gently freed the sheet from Emma’s fierce hold, coaxing the hand open and lacing their fingers instead. Emma’s fingers tightened painfully around hers when Regina ran a finger of her free hand through Emma’s wet curls. She stopped at Emma’s entrance and looked at up for reassurance, which she got immediately. “Please,” Emma moaned. 

Regina kissed Emma deeply as she pushed a finger into her, both of them groaning at the feeling. She quickly picked up a rhythm, half dictated by Emma’s rising and falling hips, half by her own body as it pressed itself against Emma’s thigh to get some relief. 

"More," Emma cried hoarsely, "God, Regina … more." 

Regina added a second finger and repositioned herself a little to add the power of her thigh to the thrusts of her hand. Emma wound her free hand into Regina’s hair and pulled her in for an open-mouthed kiss that curled Regina’s toes and tore a growl from deep within her chest. 

Regina’s body was on fire. She was sweating as her fingers were pushing ever harder and faster into Emma, in a rhythm that Regina could feel deep in her heart and her own center, dripping with need. Every push against Emma sent her closer to the edge as well. If Emma touched her now, she’d be a goner. “Come for me,” she coaxed in a whisper. “I’m so close. Come for me.” 

Emma felt like she was floating on a cloud of arousal. She tightened her grip on Regina’s hair and hand in an attempt to find more purchase for her body to push up against Regina. She was so _close, close, close_ to the edge, blood rushing through her veins, the noise so loud in her head that she almost missed what Regina was whispering. With her last remaining bit of focus she ran her hand down Regina’s back and entered her from behind, glad for her long arms and Regina’s slightly smaller frame. 

Regina bit her lip to keep herself from screaming out loud at the unexpected but very welcome move that pushed her up a little, pushing her even harder into Emma, and they both let out a raspy moan. “Yes, God, yes.” Regina’s voice was hardly recognizable, deep and guttural. “I’m so close,” she ground out, trying to hold back a moment longer. “So close. Come for me.” _Emma, Emma, Emma._

Emma loved hearing Regina speak, loved how her voice was dripping with raw sex. She sounded far away, lost in desire, and Emma’s arousal jumped yet another notch. And when Regina ordered her to come? That’s when she came hard, Regina’s name on her lips in a joyful cry. 

Regina felt Emma’s orgasm from the tips of her fingers to her toes, but it took hearing her name being shouted loudly from those perfect lips to push her over the edge right after Emma with a cry of her own. 

They lay together quietly after that, Regina with her head resting on Emma’s shoulder, hands still clasped in a loose grip. Every few seconds, Regina nuzzled closer against Emma’s neck, pressing a kiss against the skin beneath her lips, until Emma pulled her close enough for their lips to touch in a series of tender kisses. 

They kissed for a long time, simply trading little touches ranging from hot and heavy to sweet and tender, simply basking in the afterglow, both feeling content and sated. Their kisses slowed down naturally as the day caught up with them and they began drifting off. 

Regina’s breathing became even and regular, and Emma didn’t have the heart to move her to the side. When she was sure Regina was asleep, just a second before she followed her into the land of slumber, Emma pressed her lips to Regina’s hair. 

“I think I’m falling in love with you,” Emma whispered into the night and promptly fell asleep. 

Missing the wide smile on Regina’s face and the way her eyes lit up in wonder. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Annotations:  
> doggy — being well dressed but feeling self-conscious about it  
> gooseberry lay — stealing clothes from a clothesline (the expression comes from hobos making a living by stealing clothes from clotheslines, preferably on a Monday morning; if they were in need of money, they would wait until the housewife had put out her wash, then would descend on the clothesline, pick up an armful of clothes, and scurry away to sell them)  
> grifter — con artist  
> gin mill — place that serves liquor, usually illegally  
> sourdough — counterfeit money  
> copper, flatfoot, gumshoe, dick — police officer
> 
> The chapter title is a song by Cole Porter, written in 1934 for his musical _Anything Goes_.
> 
> Regina’s gun is a standard issue _.38 Colt Police Positive Special_ , a gun built especially with law enforcement in mind as the target group. It was produced from 1908 to 1995 and is the most successful of all Colt models with over 750,000 built.
> 
> Regina's badge: When the Bureau of Investigation’s name was changed to _Division of Investigation_ at the end of 1933, special agents voted for a new badge design. The new design retained the same style of badge but had its size slightly increased and was cast with a slight curvature. The badges modeled in this fashion first came to be used in April 1934, but were in use for less than two years before changing a final time after the DOI was changed to the FBI (also see not on the prologue).


	12. Chapter 11: I See Two Lovers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters in this story. I do, however, claim ownership of my mistakes. If you find any, please treat them with care and return them to me.
> 
> A/N: Not too many annotations at the end this time. It's all pretty straightforward. Granny's being Granny, and a bit more plot shows up ...

**Chapter 11: I See Two Lovers**

Regina slowly drifted towards consciousness on the wave of arousal that was spreading through her body. For a second she wondered if she was dreaming but then she registered the firm, warm body pressed against her own, and the hands and mouth touching her. 

She opened her eyes with a low, languid moan as her hands shot into the blond hair tumbling over her torso without any conscious thought. She pulled Emma closer, needing an anchor, and felt the other woman grinning around the nipple she was currently nibbling on. 

Emma let go of Regina’s breast and crawled up a little to meet her eyes. “Good morning,” she whispered, unable to contain the brilliant smile on her face. 

“Good morning to you, too.” Regina’s smile was equally bright, but after a second she winced at the sound of her own voice, raspy and scratchy and hoarse, and the sore feeling in her throat. 

Emma winced in sympathy. “That sounds like it hurts,” she muttered, her own voice also a little raspy, “although it does sound sexy as hell.” 

Regina laughed lightly at the sheepish grin on Emma’s face. “Well, I guess I won’t be singing any time soon,” she replied in a mere whisper. “Not that I have a club to sing _in_.” 

“You have no idea how bent I am that Killian burned down your house,” Emma growled. 

“You are?” 

“Of course I am,” Emma confirmed. “He could have killed you!” She leaned and pressed a kiss against Regina’s throat. “He took away your cover … and he could have ruined your voice forever.” 

“Yes, _that_ would have been the real crime here.” Regina chuckled. “I’m going to be fine, dear,” she said reassuringly, cupping Emma’s face in her hands. “As far as David and I could tell last night, Killian didn’t get his hands on any of the files he was after, and David is going to talk to our boss this morning to bring him up to date on everything. I think it’s time to end this, once and for all.” 

There was a look of determination on Regina’s face that Emma found both extremely alluring and distracting. She leaned in again, equally determined to feel those beautiful lips against her own again. It had been too long since she had tasted Regina’s lips. 

The kiss was soft and unhurried, and once Regina got over her slight surprise of being kissed like that in the middle of a conversation she kissed Emma back with the kind of languid joy that only comes from kissing someone you're intimately familiar with. They kissed for several long minutes, trading nips and licks and soft pecks with long, deep kisses that set their bodies aflame, but never so much that they couldn't dial the intensity down again. 

When they parted after long, luxurious minutes, they were both smiling brightly. "Well, I guess that answers one question," Regina murmured softly, her lips almost touching Emma’s who could feel the words as much as she could hear them. 

"Yeah?" was all she could get out in response. 

"I was wondering if you had any regrets," Regina admitted. "It seems—" 

Emma swallowed the rest of Regina's words, pulling them into herself with deep strokes of her tongue. "Just to make it clear," Emma said when she pulled back a little. "The only regret I have is that it happened under less than ideal circumstances. But being with you was damn near perfect." 

This time it was Regina who pulled her in for a kiss, mostly to hide how ridiculously happy those words made her as evidenced by the film of tears covering her eyes all of a sudden. She hadn't felt this cherished in many, many years, and in the split-second before Emma's mouth made her forget everything, she wondered if she should tell her lover about Daniel. 

Their kisses were interrupted a few minutes later by a knock on the door. Emma growled in disappointment, which Regina found extremely endearing. "Who is it?” Regina asked as loudly as she could with her sore throat. 

"Who do you think?" came Granny's muffled reply. 

Emma immediately began to move away, but Regina simply tightened her hold with a smile. "Do you really want to deny Granny the satisfaction of seeing that her meddling succeeded?" 

Emma shook her head, slightly dumbstruck. She had never met anyone like Regina, someone who could surprise her at every turn. She had just enough time to make sure they were both covered and to move a little to the side, leaning on one elbow, before Regina called out again. "Come in." 

Granny poked her head into the room first, then disappeared, only to reappear a moment later, pushing the door open with her backside, a small tray with two cups of coffee in her hands. "Good morning, girls," she greeted them as she put the tray down on the bedside table. 

"Since when do you offer room service?" Regina asked as she moved to sit a little more upright against the headboard, the need for caffeine superseding her wish to stay cuddled up to Emma. Somehow she managed to move away from Emma, sit up, and still keep them both covered. Emma was impressed, and from the grin on Granny's face, so was she. 

Emma sat up next to Regina, unable to help the luminous smile on her face. Granny studied them both with a raised eyebrow. "Well, well," she said to Emma after a moment, "you sure look like the cat that ate the canary. Oh wait, I guess you probably did ..." Her eyes twinkled when Regina snorted and Emma laughed out loud. 

"Granny!" Regina warned teasingly, even as she had a hard time stopping her laughter at the innuendo. She was instantly pacified by the coffee pressed into her hand. "Thank you," she said after the first heavenly sip. "You do make the best coffee in town." Emma nodded in agreement, still grinning widely at Granny. 

"I reckoned you might need a good, strong cup of joe this morning," Granny replied with a shrug. "Especially when you didn't show up for breakfast downstairs at a reasonable time." 

Regina winced slightly when she thought about how late it had to be for Granny to come wake them up. "Did the boys come down already?" she asked casually, picking an invisible piece of lint off Emma’s forearm. 

Granny nodded. "David left very early this morning," she explained. "He said something about going back to the mansion to check on things there. He said to tell you he’d be back around noon.” She sat down on the bed next to Regina. "Then the _darndest_ thing happened ... Killian tried to sneak out the back door but I guess he wasn't very successful since Leroy followed him not two seconds later, making sure not to be seen." There was more than a hint of curiosity in Granny's tone. 

Regina let out a soft sigh of relief, glad that Leroy was indeed keeping an eye on Killian, and also that David apparently had taken the time to get some sleep before heading back to the house. 

"Are you going to tell me what really went down at the mansion last night?" Granny asked when she saw the expression on Regina's face. Her eyes fell on the gun and badge on the dresser but she didn't comment on them apart from raising an eyebrow and nodding as if something just made sense to her. 

"You know I have your back, right?" Granny repeated her words from the night before in the club. "Whatever is going on. _Especially_ if our illustrious mayor is somehow involved. Ruby and I will do whatever we can to help. He has hurt the people in this town enough.” 

Regina reached out and put her hand on Granny's arm. "I do know that," she said, "and I _will_ tell you what I can … especially since we'll be staying here for a while, I guess, and that might put you and Ruby in danger as well." 

Granny smiled. "Where else would you go, child? Family always help each other in tough times. And make no mistake, Regina, you are family, even if we’ve only known each other a year.” She looked at Emma with a wicked grin. “Well, I guess this,” she added, pointing vaguely between Emma and Regina, “makes you family, too.” 

Emma saw that Regina was rendered speechless by Granny's easy acceptance of her, and wondered how often that happened. She gave the older woman a grateful smile for including her without making her want to run. Family was still a touchy subject for her, but for some reason these women made it sound good. "We'll be right down," she promised. "And you can talk then." 

With a nod, Granny patted Regina's hand and stood to leave the two women alone. "Oh, one more thing," she said and walked out the door. She returned a moment later with an armful of clothes. "I brought you some stuff I think you might be able to use. Some pants, shirts ... most of them are a little worn, but they're whole and they're clean, and better than running around like you just popped out of one of those newfangled toasters Ruby got me.” 

**o o o**

Emma and Regina went down to breakfast after taking their time dressing each other in some of the clothes Granny had brought. When Emma had wondered aloud where they had come from, and Regina had explained that Granny kept some clothes on hand to give them to hobos who might be in need. In these times, the number of men who roamed the country in search of work and food, relying on the kindness of strangers, grew bigger every day. So every time someone forgot something at the inn, Granny kept it, cleaned it, and mended it, so she could give it away. 

Regina told Emma that Granny figured that everybody who could do something to help, _should._ Gold, however, had decided to prevent hobos from entering Storybrooke once he had taken over the town by drafting a town ordinance against vagrancy. Regina had fumed when she had told that story, and Emma's respect for Granny had risen even more. 

Downstairs, Granny greeted them with a wave from behind the counter as they sat at the same back corner table that Emma had used during her first visit. Ruby came over with a cheeky grin, wink, and waggling of eyebrows, which Regina thought made her look ridiculous but somehow not in a bad way. They ordered quickly, enduring Ruby’s questioning looks, unaware that their continued smiles for each other told Ruby all that she wanted to know. 

Before Ruby could return with their order, the bell over the door announced another customer. Regina, whose back was to the entrance, tried to ignore it but the scowl on Emma’s face allowed her a good guess as to who had just entered. “Gold?” she murmured quietly. 

Emma nodded, focusing on Regina again. From the corner of her eyes she saw Gold limping over to his usual table, while his only company, a brutish guy, scrambled ahead to pull a chair out for him. Gold impatiently waved Ruby over to take his order, and the young waitress looked ready to drop what she was doing to do his bidding. Surprisingly, Granny shook her head and motioned for Ruby to serve Emma and Regina first. Ruby’s eyes widened a little but she did as she was told. 

"Granny is being defiant again today, I see," Regina commented mildly. 

Ruby let her breath flow out in a long sigh. "Yeah, she _really_ doesn't like the mayor." 

"And _you_ do?" Emma asked. 

Ruby looked incredibly offended. "God, no," she hissed. "You have no idea what he's done to this town since he's arrived here a few years ago. What he's done to people who defied him ... what he's done to Belle." 

Emma saw the sadness in Ruby's gaze. "Who's Belle?" 

"Gold's girlfriend," Ruby replied sadly. “We went to high school together. When he came to town he courted her but she wasn’t all that interested. Then he bought her with promises of a new library for her and even that only worked after ..." She stopped herself and looked around furtively and saw Gold watching them. 

"After what?" Emma asked, curiosity piqued. 

Ruby waved to a now very impatient Gold before turning around to Emma again. "I have to go, sorry." She almost ran to the mayor's table, and Emma could hear him clicking his tongue in disapproval even from their table in the corner. 

"Guy gives me the creeps," Emma told Regina as they started to eat. "Reminds me of someone ..." She looked at Regina who watched her curiously. "So what did Gold do that _convinced_ that girl that he might be the right guy for her?" 

"Nothing we can prove unfortunately, unlike the library scam," Regina replied softly, ever mindful of the many ears in Storybrooke that could be anywhere. "But Belle's father had a very unfortunate car accident one day soon after Belle refused him the first time, and when that didn't work immediately, their flower shop was vandalized." 

"No witnesses to either event, of course," Emma muttered sardonically. 

"Of course." 

"Wait, is Belle the girl that was with Gold last night? The one you almost gave _my_ kiss to?" 

Regina nodded with a smile, amused by the sudden show of possessiveness. "Your kiss, huh?" she asked, eyebrow raised in challenge. 

Emma returned the look confidently. "Damn, right," she said with a smile. "I gotta say, lady, you have huge balls of steel to mess with him like that." 

Regina looked down her own body, then back up at Emma, a smirk playing around her lips. "I thought I gave you ample evidence last night that I have nothing of the sort," she teased. "All woman ... my ovaries, however, may be made of brass." 

Regina laughed at the look on Emma's face which seemed caught between exasperation at being teased and the desire to run upstairs and do another extensive check of Regina's anatomy. Emma settled for wadding up her napkin and throwing it at her lover who laughed and threw it right back. 

"It's good to see that last night's _tragic_ event hasn't dampened your spirits much, Miss Mills," a deceptively mild and overly compassionate voice suddenly came from next to their table. Neither of them had heard Mayor Gold come over to them. Their smiles froze but before either could say anything, Gold continued. "I was _devastated_ to hear about the fire at the club this morning. Whatever could have happened, I wonder? Was it a matter of sudden carelessness?" 

He managed to look genuinely interested but his voice had hardened, and Emma felt a wave of coldness run down her spine. There was no doubt in her mind that this man was evil, and close up he reminded her again of ... _no_ , she shook it off. It was impossible. 

Regina found a polite smile somewhere and put it on before she turned in her seat to face him. "I knew I should have had the wiring checked more thoroughly when I rented the old house. I'm quite convinced it will turn out to have been an electrical fire caused by faulty wiring." 

Emma's eyebrow went up at hearing the usual cover story for arson jobs, and from the look on Gold's face he got the underlying message as well. 

He smiled coldly. "Yes, we should all take much more care of the things that belong to us, I think." His voice was the perfect blend of casual and deadly. "Focus on people and things closer to home to prevent … unfortunate accidents such as this. It is when our focus drifts to things that are none of our business … when our attention slips that these things happen," he mused, sounding philosophical. 

"I see my order is ready," he continued as Ruby carried a large plate to his table. "If there is _anything_ I can do for you, Miss Mills, be sure to let me know. I'm sure my employees and I can always be of assistance to, say, help you move out of my town and back to where you came from. It is most unfortunate that your … livelihood is in … ruins, shall we say.” 

"It's not as if I had much to pack should I think about leaving," Regina remarked evenly, trying to keep her calm in the face of the many levels of conversation Gold as having with her. “So I’m sure I won’t be requiring your assistance.” 

"There are always _things_ one would like to keep safe," he said, fake concern dripping from his lips, as his gaze wandered to Emma for an interminable moment, then over to Granny and Ruby. "It would be _such_ a shame if you lost even more … _things_ , wouldn't it?" With that he turned fully and walked back to his table. 

"That's not going to happen," Regina growled low in her throat. "You're not going to touch the people I love. Not _again_." She tightened her jaw to prevent herself from saying more; this was neither the time nor the place. These memories belonged in the past where nobody could touch them. 

Emma looked up sharply. Was this why this whole mission was personal to Regina? Had he killed someone she loved? Was this revenge? Emma could certainly understand the need for that, and wanted to know more, wanted to reassure Regina who looked like she was withdrawing behind some wall right before her eyes. 

The door of the diner opened once more before Emma could say anything though and she looked up in reaction. Regina remained unmoved, so Emma filled her in on the newcomer. "It's Gold's blond friend from the club last night," she explained in a soft voice. "The one who couldn't keep his hands off of you." 

That renewed show of possessiveness managed to pull Regina from her dark thoughts. “The German … yeah, he was a bit of a greaseball," she conceded, "but it was just business, dear. _I_ decide who actually gets to touch me for real." She blew Emma a small kiss, knowing she couldn't be seen from the door or Gold's table. 

Emma tried to let her smile not get too wide at that but it was damn near impossible. "I know," she whined. "But last night—“ She stopped when the door opened again and her eyes automatically wandered over to the man who had entered the diner. "Oh my God," she gasped, her face suddenly white as chalk. "Oh no … this isn't happening." 

Regina saw Emma lose all color and turned around to see who or what had caused this reaction. All she could see was a man who looked only vaguely familiar, almost as if she had seen him in some old photo but never in person. _Probably one of Gold’s button men_ , she figured. _Must be new here._

Regina focused back on Emma and grabbed the hands that were twisting and winding around each other on the table between them. For some reason that man had seriously spooked Emma. "What is it, dear?" she asked softly, not wanting to draw attention. Granny had noticed and looked over with concern but Regina could only shrug in response. "Emma?" she tried again. "Darling, what happened?" 

Emma shook her head. "I'm ... I can't ... I ... I have to get out … I think I'm going to ... “ She wrenched her hands from Regina's and pressed one firmly against her mouth, jumping up from her seat at the same time. Without a glance back she ran through the door right behind their booth and up the stairs to where the rooms were, leaving behind an extremely worried and concerned Regina. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Annotations:  
> bent — angry, mad  
> cat — someone who likes jazz  
> canary — female singer  
> greaseball — unpopular person  
> button man — professional killer
> 
> _I See Two Lovers_ is a song written by Mort Dixon and Allie Wrubel and published in 1934.
> 
> The first **automatic pop-up toasters** arrived in U.S. households in 1925 in the form of the _1-A-1 Toastmaster_ by the Waters Genter Company. Machine-sliced (and machine-wrapped) bread, by the way, followed in 1928. It was such a success that the expression “the best thing since sliced bread” was coined.


	13. Chapter 12: Trust In Me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: Not my character but it's my take on them.
> 
> A/N: I decided to split this chapter in half because it worked out better that way. This fist half is Emma's story, and it's not a happy one. Trigger warning for past abuse and mention of rape. Next chapter will be Regina's story (and it won't be sunshine and roses either). Sorry about that but it IS a noir story ...

**Chapter 12: Trust In Me**

What on Earth had that man done to Emma for her to react like that? Regina was itching to go over to Gold’s table and just strangle that scruffy-looking man. It probably was lucky in the grand scheme of things that she was too stunned to move, torn between irrationally glorious thoughts of hurting that man and jumping up to follow Emma, so she sat at the table fidgeting, muscles tensed until Granny was suddenly next to her, pulling her from her thoughts and her seat. 

“What was that all about?” Granny asked, concern on her face. “Is Emma all right?” 

Regina could only shake her head. “I need to go see what’s going on," she muttered, trying hard not to show her agitation to Gold and his cronies. All she needed now was another confrontation with him or some more adulation from that German. “I’ll be upstairs, I assume, if David is looking for me,” she told Granny quietly as she took a step towards the door. "I need to talk to him." 

Granny nodded and gently pushed Regina through the door. "Go and take care of your girl.” 

Regina found Emma in the upstairs hallway, leaning weakly against the wall outside the bathroom, still white as snow and panting lightly, looking as if she was barely standing upright. Regina took three large steps and looped her arm around Emma’s waist to keep her steady and to let her know she was there. Which meant that at least one of them was because Emma certainly looked like she was somewhere else. 

“Emma?” Regina asked softly. “Are you okay to go back to our room?” She spoke soothingly, lightly rubbing Emma’s back in a calming motion. “Or do you need to go back to the bathroom?” 

“S’okay,” Emma croaked. “Need to clean … Can you get …?” 

“Will you be okay for a second?” 

Emma nodded shakily. “Please.” 

Regina propped Emma gently up against the wall, then sprinted to their room. She rooted in Emma’s bag for her toothbrush until she spotted it in the side pocket. She grabbed it and the tube of Pepsodent and ran back out to Emma, finding her inside the bathroom. Regina’s eyebrow raised when she saw the somewhat monstrous-looking shower in the corner but she was too focused on Emma to give it a second thought. 

“I’ll wait for you in our room,” Regina stated reluctantly, every fiber of her being telling her to stay by Emma’s side but wanting to give her some space to put herself back together. 

“Stay,” Emma mumbled around the bristles she was already pushing against her mouth. There was a look of relief as the taste of bile in her moth was replaced by the mint of the toothpaste. 

Regina sat down at the edge of the bathtub, as close to Emma as she could while still able to tell herself she was giving the distraught woman some space. She was feeling helpless, which wasn’t a feeling she particularly enjoyed, and at the same time her protective instincts were working overtime. 

Five minutes later they were sitting on either end of the bed in their room, hands touching lightly on the bedspread between them. “Can you tell me what has you so troubled, dear?” Regina asked after a moment of just watching Emma take one breath after another. “Do you know that cretin from the diner from somewhere? What did he do to you?” 

It took so long for Emma to reply that Regina was certain she was going to have to go and beat the answers out of the man downstairs. But then Emma looked up to meet her eyes and swallowed hard. “You know I … I grew up on the streets of Chicago,” she began haltingly. “But that’s not the whole story.” 

Emma paused again and Regina held her hand tighter. “Would it be okay if I held you?” she whispered. 

Wordlessly, Emma crawled up the bed and settled against Regina’s side. “Thanks,” she muttered almost inaudibly. 

“Thank _you_ ,” Regina gave back. “For being willing to trust me with your story.” 

Emma let out a short, dark laugh. “I think you need to know because that joe downstairs … I think he’s related to Gold … I don't know for sure but I think it’s his son. Back in Chicago he was known as the Ferret." 

"The _Ferret_?" Regina asked. That certainly didn't bode well for the girl Emma had been. "I've heard of him through the grapevine though I’ve never seen him in person." Her voice was like flint, laden with the stories she had heard. "I just had no idea he was connected to Gold.” 

“Apparently he is.” Emma’s voice was just as hard as Regina’s. “Now I know why Gold looked slightly familiar.” She stared out the window, falling silent once more and, judging by the clenching of her jaw, getting lost in memories again. 

Regina ran her hand down Emma’s arm and laced their fingers together, running her thumb in light, relaxing patterns on the pad of Emma’s thumb. “Emma, what happened with him?” she asked, trying to bring Emma back from the place she had disappeared to. 

Emma shook her head and turned back to Regina. “I grew up in an orphanage, you know,” she began her story. “My parents just dropped me off in some alley in the winter of 1907. I must have been about three and I guess I was just too much trouble. They probably didn’t expect me to live through the night but someone found me and took me to the orphanage.” 

Regina flinched next to her but didn’t dare interrupt now that Emma was talking. She simply squeezed her hand a little tighter for a moment, glad when the pressure was returned, then went back to tracing soothing patterns on Emma’s hand. 

“Life in the orphanage was … there were really not too many good days.” Emma swallowed. “There was this matron who was in charge and she was the meanest woman I’ve ever met in my life. I was too young to be of any use to her, so she ignored me at first … The older kids just called her Blue because that was the color her face turned into when she was screaming at us. I always thought she should have been called Purple if that was the reasoning.” 

Regina grimaced at the dryness of Emma’s tone. There was a lot of fighting spirit in this woman she found so remarkably irresistible, and the way she stoically told her story gave Regina hope that she might be able to return the favor sometime soon. 

“The older I got, the more I clashed with Blue,” Emma continued and there was a slightly feral grin on her face. “We would come up with the wildest pranks for her, which was great on the rare occasion they worked. Mostly they didn’t, and then there was hell to pay.” Emma shrugged as if that was no big deal, just part and parcel of what growing up as an orphan was like. 

“One day we got this new kid, Ashley was her name.” Emma’s voice was soft and there was an audible fondness for this girl that made Regina wonder where she was now. “I was about twelve or thirteen and she was a few years younger than me, maybe six or seven. For some reason the matron didn’t like her at all.” Emma sighed with the heaviness of a remembered ache. “Blue always gave Ash jobs she couldn’t handle, then beat her for it, and when Ash … let’s just say she got beaten a lot, so I always tried to be around when she had to go do her jobs. Then one day I wasn’t.” 

“I’m so sorry,” Regina mumbled, fearing what was coming next and what all of this had to do to with the Ferret. 

Emma nodded. “Blue had this willow rod she carried around everywhere … she called it her _fairy wand_ and … when … when Ash did something wrong again one day … “ Emma’s voice was breaking more and more. “The other kids said Blue just wouldn’t stop hitting her … again and again and aga—“ Emma took a shuddering breath. “When I finally got there Ash was this bloody mess, curled up on the kitchen floor … just trying to protect herself when I couldn’t. She was barely alive … and she was so little.” 

“Oh my God,” Regina breathed, tears in her eyes. 

“I … I grabbed a skillet and hit Blue over the head with it.” Emma shivered. “I was sixteen at that point and relatively strong, so she went down like a brick … and I sure as hell wasn’t going to stay around to see if she was dead or alive. I really didn’t fancy a ride on the hotsquat or even a trip to the big house, so I grabbed Ash and ran.” 

“Did Ashley make it?” Regina asked softly. “Did that matron?” Her tone made it clear that she hoped she didn’t. 

Emma laughed darkly. “Oh yes, Blue was just _fine_ ,” she hissed. “Probably didn’t even have a headache.” She curled her free hand into a tight fist. “ _She_ sent the Ferret after me.” 

Regina barely dared asking again. “What about—?” 

“I took Ash to a hospital … I can still feel her body in my arms … I walked all the way and it took so damn long …” Emma broke off, unable to actually say the words. “It was … she was …” she tried again, failed again. 

“She didn’t make it,” Regina surmised. 

Emma curled up into Regina’s arms, sobbing almost soundlessly. Regina held her tightly and whispered soothing nonsense in her ear. She wondered if this was the first time Emma had let herself cry over Ashley, the girl she couldn’t protect. At some point Regina started humming unconsciously and quietly until Emma calmed down. 

Regina wasn’t sure how long they were sitting there, Emma curled into her arms; she just kept stroking Emma’s hair, unknowingly humming softly under her breath, the melody one she hadn’t used in many years. Finally, Emma’s breathing evened out and her shoulders lost some of their tension. 

“I never went back after that,” Emma muttered softly, cradled against Regina’s chest. “I just made a living on the streets. I became a pretty good pickpocket for a while and I ran around with some older kids who taught me how to survive without … without having to sell myself.” Emma took a deep breath. “It all went okay until the gang I ran with planned something a little bigger than usual and attracted the attention of the Ferret. I had only heard about him on the streets … he was trying to make a name for himself with one of the families, I think. I had no idea that Blue had any mob connections but I later heard that … well, she sold some of the kids to mobsters for small jobs. They did the jobs and Blue got paid for it.” 

“And the authorities never did anything about her?” 

Emma barked dryly. “We’re talking Chicago in the early 20s … what authorities? The coppers mostly looked the other way.” 

“Some of them were trying,” Regina whispered in a slightly strangled tone and Emma realized straight away that there was a story there. “But I can see what you mean.” 

“Anyway, the Ferret finally found me while we were having a good time in a speakeasy but I had no idea that was who he was. He came to our table and said his name was Neal, and we chatted a bit because he seemed harmless enough. But when I left later that night, he followed me into an alley and … and …” 

“I understand, love,” Regina soothed, keeping her voice low. “You don’t have to—“ 

Emma shook her head wildly against Regina’s chest. “No, I need to … just once in my life I actually need to say the words …” She heaved a shuddering breath. “He pushed me against a wall … and he … he took me against my will.” Emma swallowed down the bile that was threatening to rise again. “And when he was … done … he called over some of his goons and they beat me until he deemed it … _enough_ , and then they left me there to die. The last words I heard him say were _the matron says hello … but I would have taken you anyway … it was fun …_ ” 

“I’m so, so grateful that you didn’t die,” Regina breathed, pulling Emma as close as physically possible. There was a boiling rage running through Regina’s body, the likes of which she’d only ever felt once, and for only one person. It was fitting, then, that the second person she had ever wanted to tear limb from limb was closely related to the first. She didn’t realize she was growling deep in her chest until Emma sat up and looked at her questioningly. 

“What is it?” Regina asked. 

“You’re _growling_ ,” Emma explained, a warm feeling spreading through her body at the sound. “You sound like you’re about to do something … feral.” 

“You don’t know the half of it,” Regina ground out through gritted teeth. “I have no idea how you managed to survive all of this and how you turned into such an amazing person.” Regina paused as Emma gently uncurled the fists Regina had made without noticing. “I am so mad at Gold and his ferret of a son … I am going to make them pay for what they did to us. When I’m done with them, they’re going to wish they had never laid eyes on any of us, even if I have to kill them with my bare hands … even if it’s the last thing I do.” 

Emma sat up completely and pulled Regina to her, reversing their positions. “Hey now,” she said soothingly. “If anyone is going to kill the Ferret, it’s going to be _me_ … and I don’t plan on ruining my life like that.” She pressed a kiss to Regina’s forehead. “I want him to pay for what he did to me, _believe_ me … but not at all costs.” She raised Regina’s head until she could meet dark, stormy eyes. “I hate what he did to me but … I got my life under control now, living it the way I want to. I guess that’s why it was such a shock to see his face again. I had just gotten used to not seeing him every time I close my eyes.” 

“I think I understand,” Regina muttered. 

“I have a feeling you do,” Emma replied. “What did Gold do to you?” she wondered aloud, desperate to push the attention away from her own past. “I have a feeling that you have some very personal reasons to go after him.” 

Regina sighed and leaned her head against Emma’s shoulder, trying to find a good place to start. She knew Emma deserved to hear her story too after sharing her own horrific tale but she hadn’t talked about this in so very long and not ever to anyone but David that she was quite afraid she wouldn’t find the words. 

Emma misread her silence. “You don’t have to tell me, of course,” she whispered sadly. “It just … it actually feels good to talk … and I promise to be right here.” 

Regina sighed once more as she sat up a little straighter, coming face to face with Emma. “I want to tell you, I do, but …” She hesitated. “I don’t know how to start.” 

Emma gave her a small encouraging smile. She noticed focusing on Regina made her feel better because it diverted her attention away from her own story. Suddenly she remembered something. “What was that you were humming to me just now?” 

“What?” Regina was confused. 

“You were humming something when you held me,” Emma reminded her. 

“Was I?” 

“Yeah, it went something like this.” Emma tried to hum a few bars but gave up after a moment. “It was … comforting, and very sweet,” she added with a shrug. 

Regina would recognize the tune anywhere, even if it was presented as incorrectly as Emma’s version. She just hadn’t realized she had hummed it. “It’s meant to be,” she said after a moment. “It’s an old lullaby.” 

“Makes sense,” Emma mused. “Not part of your usual repertoire, though, I guess?” 

Regina shook her head, swallowing hard as tears already pooled in her eyes. “I haven’t sung this lullaby in nearly ten years,” she replied, voice so low that Emma had to strain to hear it. “I used to sing it to my son … my little prince.” 

“You have a son?” Emma asked, clearly surprised. 

“Had.” Regina closed her eyes. “I had a son, and his name was Henry.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Annotations  
> hotsquat — electric chair  
> big house — prison  
> bent — upset, mad
> 
>  _Trust In Me_ is a song by Ned Wever, Milton Ager and Jean Schwartz. It was published in 1934 but only became well-known in 1937.
> 
>  _Pepsodent_ was one of the leading brands of toothpaste in the 1930s. They promised to whiten teeth with an ingredient called irium (they admitted later that this ingredient didn’t exist). They lost a lot of market share in the 1950s because they were slow to add fluoride to their toothpaste. Toothbrushes as we know them, by the way, with nylon brushes were only patented in 1937, but Emma’s toothbrush would still have looked relatively similar, just with different materials. In my head she’s using a _Prophylactic_ toothbrush, which was a well-known brand.
> 
>  _The Sandman_ is a lullaby by Lucine Finch who published it in 1899. The song as such may be older but that’s the first version that was written down.


	14. Chapter 13: Hold My Hand

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: Not my characters. I will claim responsibility for any mistakes though.
> 
> A/N: The continuation of the Dark Past Chapter. This time we hear more about why Regina is doing what she's doing. I apologize in advance ...

**Chapter 13: Hold My Hand**

"You had a son?" 

Emma swallowed hard as she pulled Regina closer out of some automatic, protective instinct. Suddenly she wasn't sure she wanted to hear Regina's story. Or, to be more precise, she wasn't sure she wanted to watch Regina go through the pain of telling it. And that it was already hurting the woman in her arms was painfully clear in the set of her jaw and the shadows of memories ghosting through her eyes. 

But Emma was also curious which path had led Regina to this point, a female federal agent leading an undercover mission in a sleepy town in Maine. She wondered if whatever had happened to her son had led her here, and what Gold had done to her. Regina's dislike of him seemed to run deeper than the normal amount a copper felt for the gangsters they were chasing. 

"Is that ... does Henry have something to do with your job here?" Emma asked quietly. "Because I feels personal ..." 

Regina took a deep breath. Then another for good measure. She wasn't used to talking about her feelings, about things that had cut her so deep the wounds would never fully heal. And wounds didn’t get any worse than Henry. Daniel. Her parents. Regina felt her heart squeeze even at the thought of them and she wondered how she could get the words out. Finally she decided to ease into it by starting at the very beginning. 

“I grew up on a small ranch in Benton County, Indiana,” Regina said quietly. 

“Okay,” Emma encouraged after a moment when nothing else was forthcoming. “So you’re not a city girl then. Never would have suspected that.” 

“Because of my worldly ways?” Regina was only too glad to go off on a small tangent. 

“You have to admit you do come off as rather … sophisticated,” Emma pointed out. “I mean the first time I saw you I could practically hear the Duke playing in the background. And then with the suits, the tuxes, and … you know …” She pointed between them. 

“There’s a reason I didn’t stay in the country, dear,” Regina replied with a smirk. “But yes, I am a country girl.” 

“What were your parents doing on the ranch?” 

Regina nodded. “My father raised horses.” Her eyes had a wistful sheen to them. “I miss riding sometimes … the speed, the exhilaration, the freedom it offered.” She chuckled. “My mother used to say that I could ride before I could walk.” 

“That sounds a lot like what I feel when I’m in the air,” Emma stated. “I think you’d love flying.” 

“You have to take me one day then.” 

“Deal,” Emma replied instantly. “And you’ll teach me how to ride.” 

“Deal.” 

They both fell quiet, trying hard not to think about the fact that those promises sounded a lot like they were making long-term plans in a short-term situation. Neither of them had any idea where they’d end up, and Regina admitted to herself that she didn’t even know if they’d all be alive in a month’s time, or even a week’s, but still … making plans with Emma felt good and right, and it made her feel hopeful for the future. And that was a feeling she hadn’t had in way too long. 

“So why did you leave your horses?” Emma whispered against Regina’s ear, enjoying the shiver that move brought forth. 

“Because I wanted to be a singer more than I wanted to be a horse wrangler.” Regina’s voice was dry. “My daddy brought home a Victrola phonograph one day and a few records,” she continued. “One of them was a recording of the _Livery Stable Blues_. That was the first time I had heard a jazz recording and I knew at once what I wanted to do with my life.” 

Emma watched Regina smile for the first time in a long while and her face echoed it instantly. “What did your parents have to say about that?” 

Regina snorted. “They didn’t want to let me go. I was sixteen, with a whole lot of fancy dreams and no idea of what life in the big city was really like. It took me a year to talk them into letting me leave to live with a cousin of my mother’s in Chicago, on the condition that I find a good, honest job and preferably a good, honest husband as well. _And none of that singing nonsense, young lady!_ ” 

Emma laughed at the haughty tone that she assumed was supposed to imitate Regina’s mother. “And did you find a good job?” 

“I used to help my mother with the business end of the ranch, so I worked as an accountant for a while, doing the books for small businesses until I managed to land a well-paid gig in a jazz club.” Regina’s face took on a faraway look again. “But I did find a good husband, although my mother still thought he wasn’t good enough for me. Then again, the president wouldn’t have been good enough for her.” From the tone of her voice it was clear that Regina had found her mother’s attitude amusing rather than irritating. 

Emma knew they were talking about things long past but that didn’t stop the slight stab of jealousy she felt at the thought of Regina loving someone else. _Calm down, Swan,_ she admonished herself. _Remember what David said: she’s not yours just because you kissed her._ Emma knew all that but she couldn’t stop her mind from adding a determined _Yet_. “Tell me about him,” she asked nonetheless, trying to keep Regina talking about happy memories. 

“Daniel was a young detective when I met him in 1921,” Regina revealed with a fond smile. “Which was awkward because I was a singer in a gin joint at the time and he had just joined the Prohibition Unit.” 

“He was a prohi?” Emma laughed. “Sounds like the beginning of a beautiful friendship.” 

“Oh, it was.” Regina took Emma’s hand and started playing with her fingers. “He took his job very seriously, but he also had a playful side that came out from time to time.” Her smile grew wider. “We were just friends at first but it didn’t take us long to fall in love.” 

“I’m glad,” Emma said softly, meaning it with all her heart. 

Regina squeezed her hand in appreciation. “We got married early in ’22 and a few months later I got pregnant. We were so happy.” Regina’s voice faltered a little. “Daniel got a promotion and started working with a new team. He got a new partner called Graham and David was his team leader.” 

“ _Your_ David?” Emma asked. “The one that’s here with you?” 

“Yes.” Regina swallowed. “He and Daniel were best friends … David was the older brother Daniel never had.” 

“I knew I liked him for a reason.” 

“He’s a good man … and so was Daniel.” Regina looked out the window, watching a bird fly by, following it with her eyes as it vanished into the distance. “You know what the city was like in those days … people died every day.” 

Emma’s face was grim as she was reminded of Ashley and all the other people she had seen succumb to life in the back alleys of Chicago. If some vile bathtub gin didn’t get you, chances were you’d get clipped by Chicago lightning. No matter how, a lot of people ended up dead in those days. “They don’t call ‘em Chicago overcoats for nothing,” Emma muttered. 

“Daniel tried to keep his job away from me for the most part, but sometimes he and Graham and David would sit in our kitchen and talk,” Regina continued her tale. “They were after this new guy who was trying to get his share of the cake and was going about that quite ruthlessly with a small gang of people.” 

“Let me guess,” Emma said grimly. “Gold.” 

“Gold, although he called himself Tremontino back then to fit in with the South Side gang he was trying to take over. His chief enforcer was The Ferret but I only found that out later when I started digging into Gold’s business. That’s how I knew who you were talking about. I just had no idea he was Gold’s son.” 

Emma let out an angry rumble. “I can’t believe these two bastards managed to touch both of our lives with their poisonous grabbers.” 

She wondered again if she should stop this but before she could say anything, Regina continued. “Shortly after Henry was born was the first time Daniel and the others got wind of Gold. He’d been careless and left one of his victims alive, and Daniel followed that trail.” Regina’s voice was getting bleaker and bleaker, and it felt like she was slipping away while still being ensconced in Emma’s arms. Emma was desperate to try and keep her lover there with her, not sure she’d get her back if she managed to let her get lost in her memories. 

“What was Henry like?” she asked, trying to sound casual as she pulled Regina back from the ledge of her darker memories. 

For a moment, Regina’s eyes lit up. “He was the sweetest baby boy you could ever imagine. He never cried much, wasn’t fussy at all, and I often took him backstage with me when I was working at a club. He would just rest in my dressing room like a little angel and I’d just see him between gigs. All the other girls fawned over him because he was just so beautiful.” 

There were tears running down Regina’s face now, and Emma silently cursed herself. “He was so beautiful,” Regina repeated, her voice breaking over the last word as she sobbed into Emma’s neck. All Emma could do was pull her as close as possible, gently rubbing her back and whispering words of comfort, just like Regina had done for her. Emma tried to remember the melody of the lullaby that Regina had hummed for her but once more she could only manage to hum a few bars, so she repeated them and added a few of her own. 

Regina felt hollow as the memories and feelings came rushing back. They were never too far away anyway, but she had managed over time to push them down, to live with the ache as you live with the phantom pain of an amputated limb. Right now, however, it felt a lot as if that limb had been freshly removed without an anesthetic. She let the comfort of Emma’s presence, of her arms and nonsense words wash over her, taking with it some of the pain. 

Emma hurt just from listening to the pain in Regina’s voice, so she knew Regina had to feel even worse. Why had they decided to turn each other raw, nerve endings laid bare along the memories so that every thought jolted them with an almost physical force? “You don’t have to continue,” Emma murmured into Regina’s hair, almost pleadingly. “This is too hard on you.” 

“It is,” Regina admitted, taking a few shuddering breaths. “I haven’t talked about Henry or Daniel in so long …” 

“I didn’t want to hurt you when I asked about Henry,” Emma whispered with a sigh, feeling the exhaustion of both her own memories and Regina’s story. _I just wanted to keep you here with me._

“It’s not a bad thing,” Regina tried to reassure Emma. “I mentioned him first … and I really think you should hear this … to understand me, and why I’m doing this. You said yourself that it helps to talk.” 

“But—“ 

“Please, Emma,” Regina implored. “Just hold me as I get through the rest. Can you do that?” 

“For as long as you want me to,” Emma replied and tightened her hold. _How about forever?_

“Where was I?” Regina asked rhetorically. “Oh, yes … the lead on Trem— … _Gold_.” She closed her eyes for a moment, and when she opened them again, they were a few degrees colder again. “The boys worked for about two years to get close to Gold after getting on his trail. They collected evidence wherever they could, building the case against him, and finally they were preparing a raid on his headquarters for a final push that was supposed to lead to his arrest.” 

Emma shivered at the detached tone that had crept into Regina’s voice. She pressed her lips against Regina’s hair and tried to bleed her own strength into the other woman through every inch of connected skin. 

“What they didn’t know was that there was a mole in their unit and that Gold knew that they were getting close. And he had a plan.” Regina took another deep breath to get through the next part. “A plan that would cost me my whole family.” 

Emma let out an involuntary gasp. “Your whole family?” 

Regina nodded as she clung to Emma for dear life. “The day my world ended was Valentine’s Day,” she said darkly. “My family’s own personal Valentine’s Day Massacre.” 

Emma flinched at the words, the tone, and her own memories of the other, more famous Valentine’s Day Massacre. “I am so sorry,” was all she thought of to say. 

Regina ignored her, and Emma had a feeling she hadn’t even been heard. “The raid was planned for that Saturday, the 16th,” she continued. “Daniel and I had a fight that morning. We were both stressed out … Daniel because of the raid and I had an important meeting at the Friar’s Inn that afternoon with a new bandleader they were looking to hire me for. It was to be my big break.” 

“Can’t imagine a copper being happy about his wife singing in that club,” Emma muttered in sympathy. 

Regina nodded once. “My career seemed so important to me back then … and now all I can remember is that the last words Daniel and I said to each other were said in anger.” 

A lone tear ran down Emma’s cheek and she swallowed audibly, but she didn’t even notice until Regina turned to look at her and wiped it away with a look of wonder on her face. “Sorry,” Emma muttered in embarrassment. 

“Don’t be,” Regina said softly. “Thank you for listening.” 

“You’re welcome.” 

Regina collected herself visibly. “Henry had been sick for two weeks at that point and I think that also played a part in our fight. We had been worried about him on top of everything else. My mother had even come to the city to help me with Henry, but she had to get back for a horse auction, and she offered to take Henry with her to the ranch for another week.” 

“That was nice of your mother,” Emma pointed out wistfully. 

“It was, and it cost her her life,” Regina replied bleakly. “Since I had to get to the club to meet the bandleader, it was decided that Daniel would take my mother and Henry to the station before going to meet Graham and David at their office which was close to the station anyway.” 

Emma tightened her hold on Regina, afraid of what she would hear next. 

“Gold’s goons waited for Daniel at a crossroads close to our home … they knew he would be driving that way at some point that day.” Regina had to fight to get the words out, her voice raspy and harsh now. “David told me later there were two cars and they pulled up on either side of Daniel’s car and ju- just …. just op-opened … fire.” 

Emma closed her eyes. Nobody in that car had stood a chance if Gold’s men were throwing lead at it from both sides. She winced as she imagined the scene, hearing the _tat-tat-tat_ of the Tommy Guns in her head. 

Regina collapsed against Emma letting out heaving sobs and for long minutes Emma just held the woman she was falling so hard for and who was hurting so badly. In between gasping breaths, Regina tried to continue. “They … they didn’t even care … they had to see my mo- mother in the car … and my baby … but they didn’t care.” 

“Oh God, Regina,” Emma cried out. “I can’t imagine going through something like that.” In fact, the thought of losing almost everyone she loved — and here images of Ashley, Marco, and Regina flashed through her mind — was more pain that she thought she could bear. 

“I wanted to die,” Regina admitted. “I … I _was_ dead inside for a long time. When my father heard the news he was devastated. He had loved my mother so much, and he had adored Henry … he couldn’t take it.” 

Emma held her breath but Regina didn’t say anything else. “What … what did …?” She couldn’t finish the question. 

“My father did what I couldn’t bring myself to do,” Regina replied anyway. “He drank a quart of moonshine, then went into the barn and hung himself.” 

Emma had no words left to say in the face of that, so she and Regina just clung to each other. After a few moments of quiet sobbing Regina spoke once more. “David helped me survive … without him I’d have withered away. He helped me back on my feet … and he gave me a new purpose in life.” 

“Hunting Gold?” 

“Hunting Gold and everyone responsible for killing my family,” Regina confirmed. “And now we’re closer than ever to finish this.” 

“You’ve been hunting Gold for ten years?” 

Regina shook her head. “No … I went back to the farm for a few years at first, trying to find something to live for. The horses needed someone to take care of them, and I needed a reason to stay alive from day to day. David just put me on a train and sent me home, knowing I’d never let the horses get hurt because I was hurting.” 

“He stayed behind?” 

“David hunted down the mole, and it didn’t take him too long to put it together when Graham got through everything unscathed, not to mention with a brand new car and a nice house.” 

“So Daniel’s partner sold him out for money?” Emma felt rage boiling in her gut. “I hope he’s rotting in the big house.” 

Somewhere deep inside Regina found a small smile for Emma’s reaction. “He never made it there,” she said with a sense of fierce satisfaction. “You’d have to ask David about the details, but he just showed up at the ranch one day and told me that Graham wouldn’t betray anyone ever again.” 

“David _killed_ him?” 

Regina could hear the surprise in Emma’s question. “I don’t know, and I honestly don’t want to.” She sighed. “All I know is that Graham never got to enjoy the fruits of his betrayal, and I can’t say I’m sad about that.” 

“You shouldn’t be.” Something was niggling at the back of Emma’s mind. “Can I ask you something?” 

“I’m not sure, can you?” Regina tried hard to bring back a little of her usual sass to shake off the dark cloud hanging over them. They needed a respite from the darkness. 

Emma appreciated the effort and rewarded it with a peck to Regina’s cheek. “I can, just you wait,” she said with a small grin. “If David was working with Daniel and Graham and they also hung out at your house … how come Gold doesn’t know who you two are?” 

Regina snorted. “I don’t think he ever cared for the wife of one of the coppers pestering him.” 

“And David?” 

“David always kept in the background, organizing things from the office, coordinating with the higher-ups,” Regina explained. “Unless Gold had personally kept David and Daniel under observation, he wouldn’t know him from just another bartender. It was a chance we were willing to take, and it worked.” At least that’s what they all hoped. It was too late now anyway because they had been betrayed once more by one of their own. 

“He’s a good bartender,” Emma remarked. 

“I actually think that’s his real calling,” Regina agreed. “Maybe he’ll stay here and open a club when we’re done. Get married to that boring schoolmarm and settle down.” 

“He’s going to quit?” 

“We both are done after this job,” Regina answered. 

“How did you get into the Bureau?” Emma wanted to know. 

“While I was back home at the ranch my need for revenge just kept growing and I began to dig up everything I could on Gold,” Regina whispered, curling one hand into a tight fist. “David saw that and decided to give my anger a direction that was useful for me and society.” She shrugged. “He brought me the evidence they had, parts of Gold’s books and other paper trails, and I worked on those when I wasn’t busy with the horses. We managed to put away a few of Gold’s middlemen that way, and after a while David persuaded his superiors to hire me as a consultant at first, and once I proved myself even more, I got hired for real with just one mission in mind.” 

“I hope we get them,” Emma rumbled low in her throat. 

“We?” Regina turned around in Emma’s arms to fully face her. 

“If you think for one second I won’t be with you every step of the way from no—“ 

Regina’s lips stopped whatever heartfelt declaration Emma was about to make. The kiss was soft, yet desperate, sweet, yet tinged with all the sadness they had tasted in their lives. It gave them new energy and made them feel better, returned some of their positive thoughts. They both had tried for a decade or more to get over their horrible pasts and the kiss gave them hope that together they might be able to find a path toward happiness. 

Emma pulled away from the kiss with the softest expression. There were words at the back of her tongue, tickling her palate, words that wanted to reveal themselves, free themselves from their confines, that waited to be spoken but wouldn’t get out. And Emma could see that Regina was wrestling with words as well. 

Before either of them could say anything, however, there was a knock on the door. Regina moved to disentangle herself from Emma and stand, but Emma held her back. “Will you be all right?” 

Regina studied Emma for a long moment. “Will you hold me if I need you to?” 

“Definitely.” _Always. Forever._

_I promise to do the same._ “Then I will be okay.” 

And for now that was as good as the words they couldn’t say. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Annotations**
> 
> bathtub gin — rot gut, bad home-made alcohol which could quite literally kill you  
> clipped — shot  
> Chicago lightning — gunfire  
> Chicago overcoat — coffin  
> grabbers — hands  
> throw lead — shoot bullets
> 
> “Hold My Hand” is a song written by Jack Yellen, Irving Caesar and Ray Henderson (published in 1934).
> 
> **The Duke:** Emma is referring to Duke Ellington and his 1932 piece “ ** _Sophisticated Lady”_**.
> 
> The **Victrola** was a phonograph by the leading phonograph company, The Victor Talking Machine Company (they were the ones with the cute “His Master’s Voice” ads with the phonograph and Nipper the dog). The phonograph was integrated into a wooden cabinet that hid the turntable and amplifying horn.
> 
> **“Livery Stable Blues”** was one of the first jazz recordings ever. It was recorded and published in February of 1917 by Nick LaRocca’s _Original Dixieland Jass Band_ (the _Jass_ was later changed to _Jazz_ ). It can be argued that the ODJB was the first band to record jazz commercially and helped establish the genre.
> 
> **Prohi** was a colloquial term for Prohibition Agents, the federal agents working for the Prohibition Unit (later Bureau of Prohibition). The most famous "prohis" were Elliot Ness and the Untouchables. The Prohibition Unit was formed in 1920 as a unit within the Bureau of Internal Revenue to enforce the Volstead Act (a.k.a. The Prohibition Act of 1919). In 1927 it became an independent entity within the Department of the Treasury and changed its name to Bureau of Prohibition.
> 
> **Tremontino** is the Italian name for Rumpelstiltskin.
> 
> **The Friar’s Inn** was a nightclub/speakeasy in Chicago and a famous jazz music venue in the 1920s. Many of the early greats of jazz played the club that attracted both jazz lovers as well as gangsters.


	15. Chapter 14: What Now?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: Not my characters. I just play with them to make them happy. Or, given that this is a Noir story, to make them experience an alternate universe.
> 
> A/N: Another relatively short chapter but we're heading towards the end (slowly but surely). The plot thickenth a little in this one.

**Chapter 14: What Now?**

David knocked again, then carefully poked his head through the door. Regina and Emma were standing next to the bed in a close hug but they separated easily with a smile. 

"Good morning, David," Regina greeted him with a smile that he couldn't quite read. 

David could see she had been crying, a sight he hadn't seen in many years. In fact, they both looked like they had been crying. He looked between them in the slightly awkward silence, then looked around the room until his eyes fell on the badge lying openly on one of the nightstands. He turned to Regina and raised an eyebrow in question. 

“I told her,” Regina confirmed instantly. “Everything.” 

There was an emphasis to that last word that made David take an involuntarily sharp breath. As much as he had hoped that Regina would open up to someone that wasn’t him, he’d had his doubts. With surprise he realized that what he felt for his friend right now was pride, but he had no idea how to express that and not sound like her father. “I’m glad,” was what he said instead. 

“What’s the situation back at the house?” Regina said with a smile that let David know he’d been understood. 

Before David had a chance to reply, Emma cleared her throat. “I think you two probably have a lot to talk about,” she said with a small smile. “I should just—“ 

“You’re welcome to stay,” Regina interrupted immediately. 

“You already know the important things, I guess,” David added. “I didn’t want to kick you out.” 

Emma chuckled. “It’s not that,” she said quickly. “You wouldn’t be able to tear me from this room with ten horses and a small army if I didn’t want to leave.” 

“But?” Regina bit her lip but she had an idea what was going on with Emma right now. 

“I need to clear my head a little,” Emma explained, “need to let everything just … settle a little.” Telling her story had dredged up a lot of old feelings and thoughts, and listening to Regina’s story had only diverted her feelings for a short while, and not necessarily in a good way. She needed some space. “I think I’m going to head out to the airfield for a while.” 

Regina nodded, understanding completely. Neither of them were people who were used to sharing their innermost thoughts and feelings openly or often, so she wasn’t surprised that Emma needed time to put some walls back up. The truth was, so did she. “Granny has a truck that she only uses to get supplies about once a week,” she said, signaling her acceptance. “I’m sure you can borrow it.” 

Emma smiled gratefully. “That’s a good idea … I didn’t fancy the long hike.” 

Emma gave David a sidelong glance but then just leaned into Regina and pressed their lips together in a short but sweet kiss. “I’ll see you later?” 

“You will,” Regina promised. “Say hello to your lady for me and tell her I want to meet her soon.” 

“Will do.” Emma laughed and gave her a wink. “Let’s hope she won’t get jealous.” 

“Do I need to ask what you’re talking about?” David asked, protective instincts for Regina strong as ever. 

“Emma is talking about her airplane,” Regina said with a small smile. “Nothing to worry about.” 

“I should hope not,” he huffed but his lips twitched at the corners as well. 

Emma emptied her bag of everything but the flight suit and slung it over her shoulder. She stopped next to David and gave him a steady look. “Thank you,” she said sincerely. 

“For?” 

“For making sure she was around for me to meet her,” Emma explained, her throat suddenly dry. “For being her friend … So, thank you, Dave.” 

David flinched. “No need to thank me,” he replied seriously. “But please don’t ever call me that again.” 

“Bad memories?” 

“Graham used to call him … _that_ ,” Regina explained softly. “Even though David hated it.” 

Emma patted the front of David’s shoulder as she walked past him. “Thank you, _David_.” 

David turned to watch her go. “You’re welcome,” he finally muttered to the closed door, sounding a bit embarrassed by the appreciation. 

Regina allowed herself one last fond smile for Emma, before she and David got down to business. 

**o o o**

“So, what’s the situation at the mansion?” 

“Pretty damn charred,” David said dryly. “The wood was still smoking when I got there this morning. It was a little eerie, seeing the embers still glowing.” 

Regina clamped down heavily on the sadness the thought of her burning house and the things she lost with it brought. “Did you check the safe?” 

David nodded. “It was untouched when I got there. I got the files out and I also found this.” He pulled a flat metal box wrapped in a rag from the inside pocket of his coat, and offered it to Regina. “I made it out just in time before Gold’s torpedoes started swarming around like ants so at least they made the trip for biscuits.” 

Regina carefully took the box and unwrapped it. Her breath hitched and she gasped as tears filled her eyes. “Oh,” she breathed, prying the box open carefully. She had to use quite a bit of force to make the metal give but to her surprise it actually did open. The pictures inside were still mostly intact, just a little singed where they had come in contact with the hot metal. “How …?” 

David swallowed around the lump in his throat. “There’s no explanation, I think … the case didn’t melt completely, so it must have been protected by _something_ ,” he replied with a shrug. “I found it out in the yard. It must have been flung out during some kind of blast.” 

“Thank you,” Regina whispered roughly, her eyes still on the photos of Henry and Daniel, the only ones she had. “Thank you so much.” 

“Well, I’m glad you have them back.” David cleared his throat as he blushed a little. “I brought the files back here,” he continued after a moment. “Granny allowed me to store them in her safe in an empty storage box.” 

Regina looked up at that. “Granny has a _safe_?” 

David grinned. “It’s what she calls her big freezer in the basement. I don’t think anyone will look in there, and even if … that thing is _huge_. I could actually walk in there.” He shook his head. “Never seen a freezer that big. The door to that thing even locks.” 

Regina chuckled. That definitely sounded like Granny. “I’d like to see Gold try to get her key from her.” She actually didn’t because there was no way she was going to put Granny in any more danger but if anything happened, she was certain Granny could handle herself. “I’m sure she’d make good use of that shotgun she keeps under the counter.” 

David’s smile was fleeting as he continued. “I talked to the commissioner and gave him the lay.” 

Regina’s eyebrow went up. “The commissioner? The chief not taking our calls anymore?” 

“I talked to them both. The commissioner was with the chief when I called, and … well, he’s the one who got us up here,” David explained his decision. “Besides, he has access to the kind of information we needed.” 

“Okay,” Regina easily accepted his reasoning. “What did he have to say?” 

“He’s not happy about losing the house,” David said. “But he gave us the okay to handle Jones the way we see fit. He’s sending someone up to pick up the files tomorrow.” 

Regina made a face at that. She didn’t like the idea of handing over all that evidence to someone she had never met. “I guess we have to,” she finally conceded. 

“Relax,” David told her with a smile. “I know the guy. Doc’s one of the good ones.” 

“Did you get any information on the German?” Regina asked, accepting David’s word. “I want to know what Gold is doing with him.” 

“See, this is where it gets really interesting …” David stopped and went to the door, opened it, checked the hallway, before closing it again. 

Regina watched him curiously. “Since when are you _that_ paranoid?” 

“Since last night,” David replied bluntly. “That Frankenstein guy … he’s a German spy.” 

“A spy? What the hell are the Germans doing spying over here,” she wondered aloud. “We don’t have any quarrel with them as far as I know.” 

“The BOI has had eyes on a group of German immigrants for a while now,” David shared. “Apparently it’s mostly industrial espionage but a lot of the companies the Germans have managed to infiltrate are considered highly important for the armed forces.” 

Regina studied David’s serious expression. “I take it Mr. Frankenstein got his hands on something we don’t want the Germans to have?” It was a rhetorical question and David treated it as such. “What are we looking for? And what does Gold have to do with this?” 

“No idea.” David began pacing the small room. “The chief thinks that Gold is the middleman, the one actually shipping the secrets out to other German contacts up in Canada, possibly in trade for booze and hop.” He paused while Regina considered that. “What we do know is that Frankenstein escaped his tail a week ago and nobody had any idea where he was until he showed up here.” He paused. “Before that, he held a fairly high position at Sperry Gyroscope in Brooklyn. He worked on their bombsight development team.” 

“Bombsight?” Regina muttered slowly, digesting the information. “So I’m assuming we’re looking for plans … blueprints … or possibly just photos of plans? I can’t see him escaping the BOI with a bombsight in a bag.” 

“No way,” David laughed. “Those things are pretty big.” 

“So I guess we should talk to our friend Killian to see what he had really found at the warehouse,” Regina concluded. “If he even went there at all.” 

“Or the two of us could just check the cannery and warehouse?” David suggested. “See for ourselves.” 

“Oh, we will,” Regina agreed. “But I want to talk to Killian first. I want to hear from his own mouth why he decided to betray us and burn down the house … and what else he told Gold.” 

“You and me both.” David curled his hand into a fist. “Let’s go find him.” 

**o o o**

Emma was happy to see the airfield again. It promised fresh air and freedom, and tinkering with her lady would occupy her thoughts just nicely. Granny had happy to lend Emma her old Flivver, although there had been a concerned question or two after her well-being and why Regina wasn’t going with her. 

Emma jumped out of the car and grabbed her bag, walking straight towards the hangar where she and Mike had pulled the lady. She saw the mechanic in a side building and waved to him before opening the hangar door. Once inside, she walked into a corner and quickly pulled her flight suit on over her clothes. 

Then she greeted her first love. “Hello, Lady,” she murmured. “How are you doing today?” She walked around the airplane, checking just like she would do before a flight. “Don’t be jealous now … but I met someone,” she continued as her hand ran along her lady’s metal skin. “She says hello … she would have come to meet you but she has some things to take care of.” Like catching some really horrible guys. 

“Let me tell you about her,” Emma said as she opened the hatch where she supposed the problem lay. “Her name is Regina and she’s the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.” 

Emma carefully took out part after part until she finally got to the source of the problem, telling her airplane about Regina the whole time. It kept her connected to Regina, and she couldn’t help but feeling it would start to create a bond between her two lady loves. 

It was well into the afternoon when she heard steps behind her. She greeted the newcomer without turning around. “Hey, Mike, how are things?” 

“I’m not Mike,” an accented voice replied and Emma jumped to her feet and whirled around. “But maybe I can help with the problem you have there.” 

“Marco!” Emma yelled and pulled the older man into a bone-crushing hug. “How did you get here so fast?” she asked, looking him over. He looked very tired. “I didn’t expect you before tomorrow.” 

“Well, I checked the workshop and saw that we still had a slightly older part that would fit,” Marco explained with a shrug. “So I drove through the night. You can’t leave a good airplane grounded for too long. They don’t like that.” 

Emma grinned widely. “I missed you, old man.” She pulled him into another hug. He had saved her from her life at one point and she was never more grateful than she was now. Who knew if she would still be around without him. 

“Yeah, yeah,” Marco grumbled. “You were probably glad to be away from work and me for a bit.” 

Emma laughed and they both walked towards Marco’s truck to get the part they needed. As they left the hangar, Emma was blinded by the bright light outside for a second and she instinctively raised her hand to shield her eyes. 

That’s when she saw the three men with guns waiting for them by the cars. 

“Oh hell,” Emma muttered. She turned to Marco. “I’ll keep them busy,” she hissed quietly. “As soon as I have them occupied, you need to get in your truck and drive to Storybrooke. Go to the diner, find Regina. She needs to know, she’s going to help.” She watched as the men slowly walked closer. She couldn’t make out their faces in the bright light but something looked familiar about them. _Must be some of the goons I’ve seen with Gold._

“I can’t just leave you here with them,” Marco whispered back. “We both fight.” 

“I can’t risk them killing you … but they won’t kill me.” Emma was relatively sure about that because she assumed that they wanted her alive, as a bargaining chip. She hoped alive also meant with no bullet holes, so they wouldn’t just start squirting metal at them. If she was wrong … well, then she was dead. 

“Run,” she told Marco one more time. And with that and a last thought of Regina’s smile she charged at the three men. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Annotations:**  
>  torpedoes — hired gunmen, tough guys  
> trip for biscuits — doing something that results in nothing  
> to give someone the lay — to inform someone of how things stand (the lay of the land, so to speak)  
> hop — drugs (mostly for morphine and heroin)  
> Flivver — a Ford automobile  
> squirt metal — shoot bullets
> 
> **“What Now?"** was written by John W. Green and James Dyrenforth
> 
> **Bombsights** are used by bomber aircraft to help with dropping bombs as accurately as possible. The standard bombsight the U.S. Air Force used in World War II was the Norden bombsight, developed by Carl Norden. The Norden was considered a critical wartime instrument and American bomber pilots had to take an oath during their training stating that they would defend its secret with their own life, if needed. Still, the plans made it to the Germans in 1938 when a German spy, Hermann Lang, who had worked for Norden Corp. flew back home to Germany and reconstructed the plans from memory. Lang was a member of the **Duquesne Spy Ring** , one of the largest espionage cases in U.S. history. It was a fascinating case, and if you're interested, there's a Wikipedia entry about the case.  
> I got the idea for Frankenstein from the Duquesne Spy Ring but since that was a bit later in time, I switched the Norden bombsight to the **Sperry Gyroscope bombsight** because although the Norden bombsight is the most famous, it was not the first. A man named Elmer Sperry had developed the Sperry Gyroscope bombsight for the U.S. Army Air Force. Carl Norden had worked for the **Sperry Gyroscope Company** before developing the Norden bombsight and founding his own company. Sperry Gyroscope was located in Brooklyn.


	16. Chapter 15: Riptide

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: Still not my characters. Still ignoring that and taking them out for a spin down history lane. 
> 
> A/N: Thanks to all the readers who support the story by leaving comments or sending me messages about it. I'm happy I manage to make a bit of "everyday" history a little less dry for some of you. :)

**Chapter 15: Riptide**

Emma bit back a groan as consciousness slowly seeped back into her brain in the form of a splitting headache that emanated from the right side of her head, spreading all the way down to the side of her face. She kept her eyes closed as she assessed her situation and the damage done. She was sitting on a chair, her arms tied together behind the chair’s back, her feet tied to the chair’s legs, ensuring that if the chair toppled while she tried to free herself, she would find herself in a world of hurt. 

_Well, then …_

Things were a little hazy but as soon as she got her brain to focus a little more, flashes of her altercation with Gold’s three goons came back. _Guess I was right,_ she thought wryly. _They wanted me alive._ Her memory provided her with glimpses of the scuffle that had ensued after she had rushed them. She knew she had gotten in a few good hits but all in all the fight had ended rather quickly when she was dry-gulched by an enormous blow to the head. That was the last thing she remembered. 

_Hopefully, Marco has made it to Granny’s to alert Regina and David by now._ Emma realized that she had no idea how long she had been out. Or _where_ she was. She strained her hearing, keeping her eyes closed for the moment, not only because she wanted to appear unconscious for a while longer but also because she feared what opening her eyes would do to her headache. 

At first she couldn’t hear anything but once she managed to quiet the pounding in her head a little, she could hear someone breathing not too far away. The breaths were shallow and uneven as if the person was struggling a little. _Seems like one of my blows landed right on the money._

When she couldn’t hear any other noise in the vicinity, Emma decided to try and open her eyes to get some more information about her situation. She slowly blinked a few times, keeping her chin pressed to her chest just in case her senses had been wrong. To her relief, the light in the room was dim and didn’t aggravate her headache. 

She took in what she could by only moving her eyes and concluded that she was in some kind of office. There was a metal filing cabinet not too far from her and she could see a desk from the corner of her eye sitting under a milky, dirty window. She carefully raised her head an inch to see what was outside the window but to her disappointment it only seemed to lead to the inside of a building. The industrial style of the window, the worn floor, and the filing cabinet all led her to believe that she was in the office area of a warehouse or something like that. _Must be Gold’s warehouse._

Suddenly the breathing sounds she had heard earlier turned into a groan and Emma had the horrible feeling she recognized it from somewhere. The sound came from behind her and a little to the right, so Emma turned her head in that direction to see who it was. 

She could only see parts of the lower body but she recognized the clothes at once, no matter how much she wished she didn’t, and a moment of hopelessness flooded her brain. _Oh, Marco, why didn’t you run?_

The groan got louder and Emma tried to turn her chair a little more in Marco’s direction to see what was wrong with him. She was careful with her movements, not knowing where Gold’s men were hiding or if she was being watched from outside the room. It took a minute of minuscule movements to turn the chair far enough for her to be able to see most of her old friend. “Marco,” she hissed. 

Marco groaned again but raised his head a little. “Emma,” he breathed. 

“Why didn’t you run?” Emma whispered barely loud enough to travel the distance. 

Marco coughed a couple of times before meeting Emma’s eyes with a sorrowful look. “I tried, girl,” he finally whispered back, sounding weak. “But they stopped me before I even got to the truck.” 

Marco looked down and Emma followed his gaze to his legs and the floor. Even in the dim light of the office the dark, wet patch on his thigh was visible, and now Emma could also see the blood on the floor. “Oh, Marco,” she breathed. “I’m so sorry. So sorry.” 

“Not your fault, my girl,” Marco wheezed. “And it’s not as bad … as it looks.” He managed to shrug despite being as bound to a chair as Emma was. “The bullet just grazed my leg … but it was enough to stop me. Wasn’t happy with leaving you there to fight them off anyway.” 

Emma closed her eyes. A part of her was glad that she wasn’t alone right now, but she also didn’t want Marco to get hurt. And how on earth was Regina going to know what had happened to her now? 

“We’ll get through this,” she promised Marco, although she didn’t sound quite as convinced as she wanted to. Her only hope now was that Regina and David would decide to check out the warehouse for some reason. 

Suddenly, the door opened with a bang, making Emma jump a little in her chair. Too late to pretend to still be unconscious, but she closed her eyes on instinct anyway. She heard steps come closer, and then she could feel the cold steel of the business end of a gun under her chin, leaving her no choice but to look up. Her heart thumped wildly in her chest when her eyes took in the grinning, scruffy face of the man holding the gun. 

_The Ferret._

**o o o**

Leroy panted heavily when David and Regina ran into him in the alley next to Granny’s on their way to the warehouse to try and find Killian. 

“Leroy,” David urged, half propping up the squat man with a firm grip. “We were on our way to the warehouse. We thought we’d find you there.” 

Leroy took a few deep breaths, shaking his head. “Came to … give a report.” He straightened. “You need to listen to me before you go there.” Even in his out of breath state he managed to convey a sense of urgency. 

“Fine,” Regina said, already turning around to head back inside. David and Leroy followed but stayed back as Regina shared a few words with Granny. They moved once Regina motioned for them to follow her. “Granny said we could use her parlor.” 

Once inside the parlor, Leroy plopped into an armchair. “I followed Jones when he tried to sneak out this morning. He thought he was being extra sneaky, but he couldn’t make it past me.” Leroy looked satisfied. “He ran straight down to the warehouse. I stayed a bit behind … the place was swarming with goons.” 

“Could you see what Killian was up to?” David wanted to know. 

Leroy nodded. “He met up with some scruffy-looking gunsel I’ve never seen before.” 

“What did he look like?” Regina jumped in. 

“Like I said … scruffy,” Leroy replied with a shrug. “But he must have been one of Gold’s higher lieutenants because the others hung on his every word.” 

“The Ferret,” Regina growled, her face frozen in disgust. 

“Who?” Leroy asked. 

“The Ferret’s here in Storybrooke?” David blurted simultaneously. 

“Yeah, he’s here,” Regina replied. “Turns out he’s Gold’s son.” 

David could tell from the murderous look on Regina’s face that there was a longer story behind her hate for that man but he figured now was not the time to ask about it. “Didn’t even know he had one,” he muttered with a low whistle. 

“Yeah, he kept that quiet.” 

“Yeah well,” Leroy continued. “He and Killian talked but they didn’t look too chummy, if you know what I mean. They all went inside the warehouse and I crept up to the second floor backdoor to see if I could listen in and get some more intel.” He paused. “I managed to sneak in and let me tell you, Killian sure held out on us when he reported back from the warehouse the other night.” 

“What do you mean?” David asked. 

“The whole warehouse floor was full of stuff,” Leroy explained, his voice getting excited. “And I mean full, not a few boxes like Killian said. One side was weapons … I could tell that even from my perch above.” He hesitated. “Couldn’t see what was in the other boxes but since Killian mentioned dope, I’m gonna assume that he wasn’t lying.” 

“Fair enough,” Regina said. 

“Then things went south for Killian, I guess,” Leroy muttered. “Because Gold’s goons started giving him the Broderick. He must have pissed them off somehow.” 

For a second Regina felt bad for Killian but that feeling went away quickly when she remembered what he’d done to them. “They were probably unhappy that he didn’t manage to kill us.” 

“Or they figured out that the evidence didn’t burn with the house,” David mused. 

“Is that possible?” 

David thought for a moment. “Yeah, it’s possible,” he finally said. “If they looked closely at the rubble where the office used to be they could have found the empty safe. Maybe I didn’t cover it well enough since they were closing in on me.” 

“Which means that Gold will still be looking for a way to get his hands on it,” Regina mused aloud. 

“Whatever the reason, they beat him up pretty bad,” Leroy added. 

“How bad?” Regina asked. 

Leroy shook his head. “Not sure … once he was down a couple of them dragged him into the office space on the second floor and he definitely couldn’t walk anymore. I had to hide ‘cause I didn’t want to end up like him, so I couldn’t watch anymore.” 

“And then?” David had no sympathy for Killian. He had been betrayed too often and too harshly to still feel regret when his betrayers got what was coming to them. 

“When I dared to watch again, the scruffy goon was on the phone with someone, and then he talked to three of the brunos and sent them on some errand, it looked like.” Leroy didn’t sound like he cared too much. “He left shortly after.” 

“Do you remember what time that was?” 

“Around ten, I guess.” 

Regina looked at David. “He must have left to come here to meet his father,” she mused. “That’s when I saw him for the first time. It looked like they had a breakfast meeting with Frankenstein.” 

“So, he came to the diner to talk to dear old dad and sent a couple of guys off to do whatever,” David summarized. “That was hours ago, though.” He looked pointedly at Leroy. 

Leroy blushed. “Yeah, I know,” he groused. “That’s ‘cause I waited around for the rest of the goons to drift so I could take a closer look around. They hung around forever though.” 

“Did you by any chance see something that looked like blueprints?” Regina asked carefully. 

Leroy gave her a funny look. “Nah, nothing like that. Just enough Tommy Guns to supply all of Chicago’s mobs for a decade and enough dope to make New York, Chicago, and half of the rest of the States very happy.” 

“Did you check on Killian?” David asked. 

“I wanted to, but the door to the office was locked and the windows were so dirty that it was hard to see,” Leroy said slowly. “And before I could pick the lock, I heard some of the goons come back, so I breezed out of there and came back.” 

David and Regina shared another look. “If the plans Frankenstein is selling are at the warehouse, they’ll be in that office,” David said. 

“ _If_ they’re there …” Regina didn’t sound convinced. “In any case, we need to get over there and check it out.” 

“Let’s dangle,” Leroy said. “I wanna get my hands on Killian and finish what those goons started.” 

Regina opened the door to the office and almost ran straight into Granny, who gave her a grave look. “There’s a phone call for you, Regina.” 

“We don’t have time for that,” David urged. “Who knows what’s going on at that warehouse now. We need eyes and ears there.” 

“ _This_ call she needs to take,” Granny insisted, her eyes never leaving Regina’s. 

“What’s going on?” Regina asked, just knowing in her gut that it wasn’t good news. 

“It’s Gold,” Granny explained softly. 

Regina blanched a little as the really bad feeling intensified and began churning in her gut. “Gold?” she breathed, voice brittle. 

Granny gave her a look that could only be called compassionate, which only worried Regina even more. “Yes. … and he says he has Emma.” 

Regina’s heart stopped for a second and she swayed on her feet until David’s hand at the small of her back steadied her. She swallowed down the feeling of utter dread. “I’ll talk to him.” 

David held her back. “Let _me_ talk to him,” he urged. “Don’t do this to yourself.” 

Regina shook her head. “I have to. David, we know we’ve been made,” she added. “He wants me.” 

They all followed Granny to her office where Regina sank into a chair before picking up the receiver. “Mr. Gold,” she said by way of greeting, trying to keep her voice steady. 

“Ah, Miss Mills,” Gold’s smarmy voice oozed through the line. “It’s about time. I was beginning to think you didn’t care about poor Miss Swan.” 

“I don’t,” Regina lied. 

“Tsk, tsk.” Gold’s disapproval was almost palpable. “We both know that’s not true. Don’t forget we all witnessed your little display at the club before it so tragically burned to the ground.” 

“What do you want, Gold?” Regina asked, hoping she didn’t sound as scared as she was. 

“I propose a deal,” he said as if he was talking about the weather report. “A trade, if you will.” 

“What kind of deal?” Regina’s hand curled into a fist until her fingers were white from the pressure. David took a step closer and put his hand on her shoulder. Leroy and Granny both looked like they wanted to kill someone, preferably the mayor. 

“You or one of your other little copper friends will hand me all that pesky evidence you think you have on me.” By now Gold’s voice had turned steely. “Then you will leave this town and never come back. You will forget it exists, you will forget all about me. And in return I will spare Miss Swan’s life.” 

“Like I said, Gold … I have no idea what you’re talking about,” regina tried again, although even she had to admit that it was a weak attempt. 

“Quit stalling for time, there’s no way around this,” Gold said harshly. “Don’t even try to come up with some Chinese angle to get out of this. You have three seconds to decide before I send my men to start playing with Miss Swan. Deal or no deal?” 

Regina ground her teeth. “Deal.” 

“Pleasure doing business with you, Miss Mills,” Gold snickered. “I expect you at my warehouse in one hour.” 

**o o o**

“Well, well, look who’s finally awake,” Neal taunted Emma, pressing the barrel of his gun a little deeper into her skin. 

Emma _hated_ that voice. She fought down the bile that threatened to crawl up her throat again at the sight and sound of the man who played a starring role in her darkest nightmares. She called upon her willpower to meet his eyes defiantly but didn’t say anything. 

Neal moved Emma’s face back and forth with his gun. “You look a little familiar, babe,” he commented casually. “Do I know you from somewhere?” 

Emma didn’t know whether to be relieved or insulted that the man who almost destroyed her life didn’t even remember her, but she decided to play along. “Don’t think so,” she rasped. “But even if we _have_ met, I doubt I’d remember you.” 

Neal laughed. “A feisty one,” he said with a grin. “And such a butter and egg fly too … just the combination I like. Even if you’re a little … damaged right now.” He pushed his gun against her head wound for a long agonizing moment before finally lowering it away from her face. “Maybe we can have some fun together once this whole thing is over and you get cleaned up some.” 

“You leave her alone,” Marco growled and Emma could hear him straining against his bindings. 

“Shut up, old man,” Neal bellowed. 

It took almost all of Emma’s willpower not to throw up but she decided to try and get as much information as she could. “Why did you kidnap us?” she managed to get out through the haze of pain and nausea. 

“Ah, doll,” Neal chuckled. “Let’s just say you’re a bargaining chip,” he stated. “And if my father gets what he wants, you won’t be harmed.” 

Emma scoffed. “You really want me to believe that?” she asked, her voice dry and rough. “You already shot my friend.” 

“He’s just collateral damage,” Neal said with a shrug. “We don’t need him, so he better behave.” 

“He needs a doctor,” Emma insisted. 

“He needs a doctor,” Neal mocked her, before pointing his gun in Marco’s direction. “If he can’t stand a little pain, I have no problem ending it for him. Permanently.” He pointed his gun to the far corner of the room, which Emma couldn’t see from her position. “He can join that patsy over there in the corner.” 

Emma strained her whole body as she tried to see the dark corner but to no avail. Neal chuckled at her attempt. “Don’t hurt yourself, kitten,” he smirked. “You can see him when this is over. He’s not going anywhere.” He pointed his gun back at Marco. “So behave, old man, unless you want to make the pile a little bigger.” 

“Who _is_ your father anyway?” Emma desperately tried to divert his attention away from Marco. “What does he want? Who are you trying to bait with me? I don’t even know anybody here well enough for that to work.” _It was worth a try, wasn’t it?_

Neal laughed in her face. “I’m sure you know the answer to those question as well as I do,” he replied conversationally. “If not … well, that’s just sad for you, isn’t it.” He laughed darkly, then turned to leave again. “Things should go down soon, and if you behave, you’ll get out of this alive … and then I think I’m going to have some fun with you.” 

Emma took a few deep breaths once he had left room to fight the nausea that was swirling up from her stomach. 

“Are you all right, girl?” Marco asked, his voice filled with concern at her reaction to Neal. 

“No,” was all Emma could get out. _But at least I’m alive for now,_ she thought as she spared a thought for the dead man supposedly lying in the corner. 

No matter how wonderful it had begun, this was quickly turning into a _very_ bad day. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Annotations:  
> dry-gulched — knocked out, hit over the head  
> gunsel — gunman, usually of the reckless sort  
> the Broderick — a thorough beating  
> drift — go, leave  
> breeze — run, leave in a hurry  
> dangle — leave  
> Chinese angle — a strange or unusual twist or aspect to something  
> butter and egg fly — very attractive woman  
> doll — girl, woman  
> patsy — person who is set up; fool, idiot
> 
> “Riptide” was written by Gus Kahn and Walter Donaldson and published in 1934.


	17. Chapter 16: Tailspin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: Not my characters, but I do like to have some fun with them.
> 
> A/N: We're getting closer to the end ... only one or two more chapters to go after this. I apologize in advance if this chapter is not particularly good, but action and suspense are not my strong suit (which is actually one of the reasons why I tackled this). Thank you all for reading. :)

**Chapter 16: Tailspin**

“Options?” David asked into the silence that had settled over Granny’s parlor. 

“Not too many,” Leroy replied solemnly. “We just can’t risk that Swan girl’s life.” 

Granny pressed her hand more firmly on Regina’s shoulder when she felt the younger woman tense. “There’s no way you’re risking Emma’s life,” she stated. 

Regina closed her eyes. “But we also can’t just hand him the evidence and then skip out of town,” she pointed out in a broken voice. “That’s not how this works.” 

“Regina Mills!” Granny gasped loudly. “You can’t mean that. You _love_ that girl.” 

There was a tear running down Regina’s cheek. “I never said that,” she rasped. 

Granny looked like she wanted to slap some sense into her, but it was Leroy’s voice that broke the silence. “It’s not like you _had_ to say it, sister,” he said, scratching his head in a slightly embarrassed move. “That was damn obvious even to a blind twit like me who never saw such a thing going on between two ladies.” He broke off, blushing furiously. 

David grinned. “He’s absolutely right,” he added. “There’s no way we’re risking the woman you … _Emma_.” 

“You can say it, David,” Regina sighed. “You’re _all_ right.” She visibly pulled herself together. 

“That’s settled then … but there’s no guarantee that Gold will let her go even if we do as he says,” David pointed out. 

Regina snorted darkly. “I never for a second believed he would.” She shook her head. “He’s not the type to leave witnesses, remember?” 

“I probably don’t want to know, do I?” Granny asked apprehensively. 

“No, you don’t,” David confirmed grimly. “One way or the other, this ends today.” 

“I’ll tell you one day,” Regina told Granny to everyone’s surprise, including her own. “Now, ideas?” 

“We can’t run in throwing lead, that’s for sure,” Leroy said. “There’s just three of us.” 

Granny looked like she wanted to say something, but Regina beat her to it. “How many of Gold’s men did you see this morning, Leroy?” 

Leroy thought for a moment, then started counting on his fingers. “That guy you say is Gold’s son, and I think I saw five or six other guys. His standard goons.” 

David nodded. “And then there’s Jefferson, that Frankenstein guy, although I’m not sure how much of a problem he’s going to be, and—” 

“The beefy guy who was with Gold at the diner for breakfast,” Regina added. “And then there’s Gold himself.” 

“Does he even know which end of a gun to hold?” Leroy asked with a smirk. 

“No idea,” David replied with a shrug. “So far I’ve only ever seen him give the orders,” he commented dryly. 

“Gold or no Gold, that’s still a significant number of guns against our three,” Regina mused. 

“And they have choppers,” Leroy grunted. “While we have these little bean shooters here.” He pulled out his police issue Colt. “Doesn’t seem all that fair.” 

Regina nodded. “So it’s the three of us against at least nine or ten of them.” 

“Maybe Emma can help from inside,” David suggested hopefully. Then he hesitated. “What about Killian? Maybe he comes to his senses …” 

“We can hope,” Regina said with a heavy heart. It’d be a miracle if any of them survived this day, and she swore if anybody would, it was going to be Emma. 

Leroy shook his head. “Even if Jones came to his senses, he couldn’t even walk by the time they were through with him. I doubt we can count on that wet smack for help.” 

Granny cleared her throat, then waited until all eyes were upon her. “Let us help,” she said simply. 

“Us?” David asked. 

“Us,” Granny confirmed. “Me, Ruby, the people of this town.” She made a sweeping motion with one hand. “We’re all sick of Gold and his hatchetmen ruining this town. The sooner that problem gets solved, the better for all of us.” 

Regina smiled gently. “Granny,” she whispered. “As much as I love your offer, I can’t let you or anybody else in this town risk their lives. That’s our job … that’s why we’re here.” 

“Regina …” 

“No, Granny,” Regina pleaded. “Please don’t make this any harder. I just can’t let you risk your life.” 

Granny sighed, but nodded, although it wasn’t too convincingly. “Fine,” she finally growled, raising her hands in surrender. 

Regina sent her an understanding look, praying that Granny would really stay out of this. Then she turned to David and Leroy. “Since Gold so kindly left us a choice I think one of you two should go and drop off the evidence.” 

Leroy’s jaw dropped. “We’re actually handing the stuff over?” 

Regina shook her head. “We’re going to pack a nice bundle of stuff that Killian might have spilled the beans about,” she said. “But …,” she added on an exhale, exchanging looks with David, “there’s a whole stack of files that only me and David knew about, and he’s not getting that.” 

“Trust issues, hm?” Leroy asked, although he didn’t sound offended in the least. “Good call, I’d say, after that what that dog pulled.” 

David patted his shoulder in a silent apology, while Regina turned to Granny. “If none of us make it out of there alive, I’d like to ask you to hand the evidence over to the DOI.” 

“One of our contacts will be here tomorrow to take it down to New York,” David added. “He’s trustworthy. I’ll leave a note for him before we go.” 

Granny nodded. “Of course,” she said. “But I won’t have to because you’re all coming back. Alive.” She glared at Regina. “If you do something stupid out there today that gets you killed, I’m going to hunt you down and kill you again, so help me God.” 

Regina smiled gently. “Duly noted, Granny. Thank you.” _For everything,_ but she didn’t have to say that out loud; it was understood in the look between them. 

“Who’s dropping the files at Gold’s feet?” Leroy asked. 

“I’ll do it,” David offered, and Regina nodded in agreement. 

Leroy, however, shook his head. “I think you should stick with Regina, Nolan,” he muttered. “You’re a much better shot than me, and I have a feeling that might come in handy.” He stuffed his hands in his pockets. “You and Regina, you sneak into the warehouse,” he continued. “I’ll drop the files and keep Gold and however many of his goons he has with him busy for as long as I can without getting my keister clipped. As soon as they let me go, I’ll join you inside the warehouse.” 

David looked unconvinced. “You think we can still sneak inside there?” 

“They didn’t come check the upstairs entrance at all, when I was hiding up there,” Leroy replied. “It’s pretty hidden and a bit of a climb, so I think they either don’t know or forgot about it.” He saw Regina trying to say something. “Before you mention Killian, remember that I was there after he sang to Gold … and I really doubt he’s in a position or the mood to say much of anything now.” 

“Okay,” Regina agreed. “We have to take the risk. We have forty minutes until you have to meet Gold, which should leave David and me more than enough time to beat you to the warehouse even on foot.” She straightened her shoulders and checked her gun on pure routine, glad that the suit Granny had provided for her was a little wider than she needed and covered the shoulder holster well. The suit was also dark, which should help keep them hidden in the shadows of the warehouse. 

“Right,” David said, also checking his gun. “We’re going to leave right now. You take the car to the warehouse.” He nodded at Leroy, before turning to Granny. “It’s the smaller of the two boxes,” he told her. 

The four of them stood in a loose circle, all lost for words. They refused to say their goodbyes, despite knowing that this could be the last time they’d be seeing each other. After a moment that seemed to stretch on and on, Leroy suddenly smacked his forehead, then bowed down low. David gave Regina a worried look, but before either of them could say a word, Leroy straightened back up, his hand curled around a small pocket holster with a tiny gun. 

He held the gun out to Regina. “Take it, sister,” Leroy said gruffly. “It’s not much, but the four shots in there could save your life when you can’t get your hands on your real gun.” 

Regina took the Derringer with a smile. “What about you?” 

Leroy grinned devilishly. “Don’t worry about me, sister,” he smirked. “I have my Colt and another one of those babies tucked away.” He patted his pants pocket and turned serious. “Let’s not die today, okay? I promised Astrid a date. Deal?” 

“Deal,” Regina and David echoed. 

**o o o**

Emma was feeling nauseous, but she had no idea if it was from the head wound or a lingering effect from Neal’s company. She didn’t have a great grasp of the time that had gone by since he’d left without access to the outside world, but she thought it would have been about half an hour or so. 

Marco had lost consciousness not long after Neal had left them alone, leaving Emma to ponder how to get out of their sticky situation. She knew she didn’t stand much of a chance if she wanted to get Marco out as well, and she would _never_ leave without him. That left waiting to be rescued, a thought that didn’t sit even remotely right with Emma. Even if Regina was the rescue party … or maybe it was because of Regina. She didn’t want the woman she loved in danger. And yes, she could admit to herself that she had fallen in love over the course of the short time they had spent together. 

Emma had spent the first few minutes after Neal’s visit trying not to throw up. Then curiosity had made her slowly, carefully move her chair around until she could see the corner Neal had talked about. She had hoped that what she had seen had just been the body of someone unconscious, maybe another one of Gold’s or Neal’s victims, even though deep down in her gut she had a horrible feeling about who the body in the corner belonged to. 

Well, Neal hadn’t lied. 

_That’s what you get for betraying your friends_ , she thought, biting back more bile, _and for burning down their house with them in it._ She didn’t know what to feel at the sight of Killian Jones lying there, and now, after twenty minutes of trying not to stare at his corpse, she still wasn’t sure. All she knew was that nobody deserved to die like that, in a dark corner on a dirty warehouse floor. 

She tried not to wonder if she and Marco would end up in the same pile once Gold had what he wanted. As long as Regina was fine, she’d even be okay with that for herself, but she did have to get Marco out alive somehow. 

She looked around the room they were in, trying to find something to help free herself. She had no idea how long they’d be left alone, but at the moment things were quiet as far as she could tell. She moved her chair towards the desk to get a closer look at the odds and ends scattered on its surface. She was hoping for something sharp, something she could use to destroy the ropes that bound her. _Nothing._

Emma wondered if it was possible to somehow smash the chair she was tied to without breaking an arm while doing it, but with how tight her arms were tied behind the chair’s back chances were slim. _Last resort,_ she decided. 

There was a commotion outside the room and Emma shuffled the chair over to the large window to try and see what was going on. She could hear Neal and at least two other man shouting things, but she had a heard time understanding what they were saying. She could only pick out the odd word, but one word in particular got her attention. 

_Mills._

_They were trying to get Regina here to … to what?_ She thought about everything she now knew about Regina and her job and quickly came to a conclusion. _They’re going to exchange us for anything incriminating Regina has on them._

She heard footsteps coming closer, steps she would have recognized anywhere. And just as she heard Neal open the door to the office, he yelled back to his men. “Make sure they get a warm welcome. My father doesn’t want any loose ends.” 

Emma swallowed hard when Neal came to a stop close to her. He wasn’t carrying a gun this time but that didn’t make him any less scary. He studied her face. “Oops, guess you heard that, dollface?” he mocked the look in her eyes. “Don’t worry, you won’t notice a thing.” 

“What are you talking about?” Emma growled, moving her chair away from him with a few quick hops. 

“Damn, you really are a feisty one, aren’t you, kitten,” he commented almost lazily as he was by her side again in one big step. He put on booted foot on her thigh to keep her in place, but Emma still tried to move away from him. “Stop squirming,” he sneered, as he pulled a small bottle and a piece of cloth from the inside pocket of his jacket. 

Emma’s eyes widened as she realized what he was planning, and her head jerked back instinctively. 

Neal opened the bottle with practiced ease and pressed the cloth against the opening before turning it on its head for just a moment. “That should do it,” he muttered, before screwing the top back on the bottle and storing it back in his pocket. His free hand went to the back of Emma’s head, tugging painfully on her hair as she tried to prevent the inevitable. 

Emma’s whole body vibrated in her futile attempt to get away from the man who seemed intent on tormenting her again and again. “Stay still, babe,” Neal ordered. “Or I’m doing this the painful way. I can always give you a matching gash on the other side.” 

He pressed the heel of his hand into her head wound to make his point, causing Emma to gasp in pain. Her vision erupted in red spots, her mouth opened wide, and her nostrils flared in pain, which was exactly what the Ferret had been waiting for. Swiftly, he put the cloth lightly over her nose and mouth and counted under his breath. 

Emma lost consciousness before she could hear him count to twenty, and she missed the vicious kick Neal gave her chair, sending it to the floor in a clatter. Then he pressed the cloth to Marcos face for a moment to keep him unconscious before leaving the room whistling lightly. 

**o o o**

Regina echoed Emma’s gasp and she quickly pressed one hand against her mouth to stop any sound. Her other hand dug painfully into David’s biceps. “I have to get over there,” she muttered into her hand. 

David still heard her. “Don’t,” he whispered. “We won’t be able to help her if we’re caught now.” 

Regina nodded, taking a couple of deep breaths. Watching Emma being manhandled by the man who was her worst nightmare was unbearable, especially since she couldn’t see enough of what was actually happening. All she had been able to see through the dirt-caked windows and the open door of the warehouse office was how Neal had gotten close to Emma and had done something to her. Emma’s head had slumped forward, Neal kicking something, and then Emma had been gone from view. 

And Regina’s heart had stopped. 

“Regina, listen to me,” David urged. “We didn’t make it up here to jump the gun now.” He looked around the warehouse, counting men for the fifth time since getting to their hiding spot. He and Regina had already taken out two of Gold’s goons as they had prepared to climb up to the back entrance. One David had taken care of easily but the other one had almost surprised him, and he had never been more glad that he had a woman like Regina by his side. She had sapped the man with the butt of her gun before he could even think of yelling out a warning, and hopefully neither of the men would be missed any time soon. 

Something on the warehouse floor below caught his attention. “Frankenstein and Gold are here.” 

“I see them,” Regina said coldly, but her eyes went back to where she had last seen Emma. _I’m going to get you out of here, if it’s the last thing I do,_ she swore silently. She watched as Gold and Frankenstein walked upstairs and into the room where Emma was and it took all of her willpower not to run in there, guns blazing. 

David noticed the tension in her whole body. “Five more minutes, Regina,” he reminded her. “The hour’s up in five minutes. Then Leroy will be here to distract them and we can grab Emma and get out of here.” 

Regina turned to her oldest friend. “I know we’re supposed to uphold the law, David, but I’m going to tell you something,” she said quietly, her voice deep and raw. “I don’t care if none of them make it out of here alive. If it means getting Emma and us out of here, I’ll kill every last one of them.” 

David let out a long sigh. “I know.” He knew he was going to do his utmost to make sure that Regina didn’t have to kill anyone. He had never wanted that for her, and he still hoped it wouldn’t have to come to that. But he certainly could understand Regina’s feelings. “I know,” he repeated. 

Their attention was drawn back to the warehouse floor by Neal who came running in through the door. “Delivery is here, Dad,” he yelled up toward the office. 

Immediately, Gold and his German partner left the office area and walked down the metal staircase to the main floor. “Right on time,” they could hear Gold say. “Is it Mills?” 

“No, some small Joe with a beard,” Neal said. “Just climbed out of a rusty bucket with a small box.” 

Gold looked up sharply at that and called over Jefferson and another of his men. “Be on the lookout,” he ordered. “If she sent someone else with the files, she’s planning something. I know the feds, they’re _always_ planning something.” 

The two men nodded and walked off in different directions, although neither of them climbed the stairs to the second floor. 

Regina and David waited until Gold and the others disappeared through the door before leaving their hideout and making their way along the metal walkway that ran along the wall of the building as quickly as they could while also being as quiet as possible and keeping an eye out for Gold’s men. 

Regina peeked around the open door and slid into the room when she couldn’t see any of Gold’s men inside. She went to Emma’s side immediately, gasping at the sight of her. Her blonde hair was caked with blood on her right side and underneath she could see the ugly gash that had caused it. “Dammit,” she growled, even as she ran her hands over the rest of Emma’s body to check for any other damage. 

“Not … here … not alone,” Emma tried to joke, just regaining a little of her wits back. 

Regina let out a strangled sound, half sob, half relieved laughter at the sound of Emma’s voice. “Oh, Emma,” she breathed. “I was so scared.” 

“Who’s this?” David’s voice drew Regina’s attention. 

“I don’t know,” she replied as her eyes took in the sight of the older man slumped in his chair. “But he needs a doctor.” She pointed at his leg. 

David nodded and instantly began looking around for something he could use as a bandage. “Come on,” he muttered under his breath. “This is an office … there should be a first aid k— … oh.” He stopped abruptly. 

“What is it?” 

“You need to see this,” David said somberly. 

“I have to get Emma on her feet first,” Regina replied. “We don’t have much time.” 

“It’s Killian.” 

“What?” Those two words were enough to get Regina to her feet and to David’s side. “Oh,” she echoed David’s expression when she saw her dead former colleague. “I’m not sure what I’m feeling right now,” she admitted after a moment. She began looking at the desk to avoid looking at Killian, when she saw something interesting. She crouched down next to the desk and began pushing against it. 

“What are you doing?” David asked. He was bent over Killian, pulling the dead man’s shirt out of his pants and ripping off a long strip of cloth. “Sorry, man,” he mumbled. “But you don’t need it any more.” 

“It looks like there’s a hidden door here,” Regina explained as she ran her hands over the side of the desk. “They must have been in a hurry because it’s not all flush with the surface. Just have to find … ah.” Regina pressed down and the door sprung open, revealing a small safe. Regina tested the handle and was immensely surprised and relieved when it opened. “They _really_ must have been in a hurry.” 

“Or they feel very, very safe here.” David had moved back to Marco and had cut him loose with the knife he carried at his belt and was now moving to free Emma. “What did you find?” he asked when Regina fell silent. 

“Plans,” Regina said simply. “Technical plans.” She stood and walked back to Emma. “Take a look,” she told David, “and grab the stuff. I’ll take care of Emma.” 

David handed her the knife without question, and Regina cut Emma loose. She tucked the knife in the pocket of the suit jacket she was wearing and pulled Emma into her arms. “Oh, darling,” she mumbled softly. 

“Don’t feel … so good,” Emma croaked. “Dizzy.” 

“We’ll get you out of here,” Regina promised. 

“Mar…co.” Emma tried to look at her old friend. 

“That’s Marco?” Regina asked. “Your friend?” Emma made a humming sound Regina took as confirmation. “We’ll get you both out.” 

“I doubt that very much, Miss Mills.” 

Regina closed her eyes in dismay at the sound of Gold’s smug voice. 

They had run out of time. 

**o o o**

They’d been all herded down to the main floor of the warehouse, but at least Regina had been allowed to help Emma down the stairs. Regina was worried about her head wound because Emma was still very dizzy, but Emma had just mumbled the word “drugged” so matter-of-factly that she assumed Emma had some experience and knew what she was talking about. 

David had helped Marco, which had been made more difficult by the fact that the older man was drifting in and out of consciousness. Jefferson had offered to shoot Marco to “put him out of his misery” but David had simply taken Marco’s arm and slung it over his shoulder with a short, “No need.” And he hadn’t taken his arm off his shoulders until Marco had rested against one of the many boxes on the main warehouse floor, right next to Emma. 

Now they were standing in a loose, wide circle, eyeing each other warily. Regina, David, Leroy, Emma, and Marco on one side, Gold and his goons on the other. The only difference was that the goons still had their weapons. _And ours as well,_ Regina thought bitterly. _Although …_ She casually put her hand in her pocket and curled it around the Derringer. They could have been more thorough when they searched her, but she really wasn’t complaining. Overconfidence was a beautiful thing. 

Regina wondered what Gold was waiting for but then he went to a phone on the wall and dialed a number. He spoke too softly for her to understand what was going on but he seemed satisfied with what he was hearing. He came back after a minute or two, wearing a satisfied smile. 

“We’re going to take a nice little boat ride now,” he declared, sounding like a cruise director. 

“One we won’t be returning from, I’m guessing,” Leroy muttered under his breath, but Gold’s snicker told them that he had heard. 

“Exactly,” he confirmed. “You’re all going to have a very unfortunate accident, one that none of my men could have foreseen or prevented. Such a shame … it seems as if you’re having the worst luck these days.” 

“Why don’t you just shoot us now?” Regina asked. “Why bother with a boat? It’s not like you have a problem having people shot,” she challenged. 

Gold looked at her with much more interest than before. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say you speak from experience.” 

“I do,” Regina replied conversationally. It didn’t matter now anyway. “You killed my family.” 

Gold started walking up to her, getting closer and closer, which was exactly what Regina wanted, so she continued to goad him. “But of course you always use your men for something like that,” she added. “You’re too afraid to get a little dirt on those old-fashioned white spats of yours.” Regina kept an eye on Gold and Neal, who had decided to follow his father, seemingly curious where this was going, although he kept one leering eye on Emma, who right beside Regina. 

Gold was only inches from Regina now, feeling safe in the presence of his armed men. “Who are you?” 

_Overconfident,_ Regina thought. 

Then, suddenly, several things happened at once. “This is the police,” a booming voice came from outside the warehouse, surprising everyone inside; Emma lurched forward with a groan and threw up all over Neal, Regina pulled out her small gun, grabbed Gold and turned him around with an arm around his neck, pressing the gun against his temple, while David and Leroy simultaneously decided to make use of the confusion and grab the guns of the closest of Gold’s men and aimed at them instead. 

The tables had turned. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Annotations:  
> twit — idiot, fool  
> throwing lead — shooting wildly  
> choppers — Tommy Guns, submachine guns  
> bean shooter — gun, pistol  
> wet smack — unpopular person  
> hatchetmen — hired gunmen  
> dog — traitor  
> keister — butt  
> clipped — shot  
> bucket — car
> 
> Tailspin is a 1934 song written by Jimmy Dorsey and Frankie Trumbauer.
> 
> Derringers are small guns, originally built by the company of the same name. But relatively soon it came to be the term for all small guns. The gun Leroy gives to Regina, however, is an actual Derringer. Side-note: these small guns are also affectionately called mouseguns. :) 
> 
> Neal uses chloroform to knock out Emma (hey, it’s a movie staple), but it actually only worked because Emma was breathing very deeply at the time due to gasping from pain. Usually, “knock-out” inhalants like chloroform and ether take much longer to work than in the movies, especially if the victims refuse to take deep breaths. That’s why Neal made her gasp. The effects also don’t last very long after the inhalant is removed, but the victim will feel pretty badly when they come out of it.


	18. Chapter 17: Take My Word

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: Not my characters. I just take them out to play with them. :)
> 
> A/N: I apologize for slightly longer hiatus. My vacation threw my muse off-course for a bit. ;-) But here it is, the penultimate chapter of our little tale. (Well, there will be an epilogue as well ...)

**Chapter 17: Take My Word**

Emma opened her eyes slowly, groaning quietly when even the low light made her head hurt more. _What the hell …? Oh, yeah._ It took her a second to remember, but once she did everything came back in a rush. _This goddamn day._ “Where …?” 

“You’re in the hospital, dear,” Regina whispered and squeezed her hand gently, before beginning to trace light circles on it with her thumb. 

Emma felt her whole body relax at the sound and the touch. _There was something she had to remember, though, wasn’t there?_ “Marco?” she rasped. That _was it._

Regina gently pushed a lock of hair from Emma’s forehead. “He’s next door,” she replied, keeping her voice soft and even, although she felt like screaming because she had been so scared for Emma. “He’ll be fine. The bullet only grazed his leg. He’ll be okay in a couple of days.” 

“Good.” Emma tried a deep breath, and another when the slight nausea she felt didn’t get any worse. “What the hell happened at that warehouse?” 

Regina’s hand stilled, making Emma regret the question immediately. “What is the last thing you remember?” she finally asked back. 

Emma tried to focus the blurry images in her head. She had been kidnapped by Gold’s goons, Neal had been there, and she’d been … _yeah_. She touched the side of her head and felt a large bandage. _And then …_ “I threw up all over Neal,” she murmured. “After that, I got nothing.” 

Regina gave her a reassuring smile. “That’s probably because you fainted after creating that wonderful distraction for us.” 

Emma glared at her. “I didn’t faint,” she insisted. “I do _not_ faint. Ever.” 

Regina chuckled lightly and decided to indulge her. “Of course not, dear,” she replied. “You lost consciousness but you managed to create an opportunity for us to overwhelm Gold and his guys.” 

More images and sounds came back to Emma. “Was the law really waiting outside?” she wondered aloud. “Does Storybrooke even have a police force?” 

Regina shook her head, but there was a soft smile on her face. “Officially, Storybrooke has a sheriff, but since Storybrooke’s sheriff was Jefferson, one of Gold’s lieutenants … no, it wasn’t really the law outside the warehouse.” 

“Who then?” 

“Granny rounded up a good number of Storybrooke’s citizens,” Regina explained. “My pianist, Archie, was the one who used a bullhorn to alert us about their presence. It was enough to start the distraction that you continued so …“ 

“Stupidly? Disastrously?” Emma continued. 

“Frighteningly,” Regina corrected soberly. Her face was stony but her eyes shimmered with tears. “Don’t ever scare me like that again, do you hear me? Do you have _any_ idea how terrified I was today?” 

“It’s not like I wanted that to happen, Regina,” Emma defended softly, reaching up with her hand to touch the other woman’s face, but Regina pulled away. “Please don’t do this,” Emma begged. “Don’t disappear on me. I’m in no position to chase you right now.” 

“I’m sorry,” Regina muttered through the tears that clogged her throat. “I can’t believe I pulled you into this mess and got you hurt.” 

“Hey, hey,” Emma soothed. “I think I managed to get myself into this mess just fine on my own.” She caught a tear on Regina’s cheek with her thumb. “If I hadn’t kissed you at the club, Gold would probably never have gone after me. I’m just sorry that I made things more difficult for you.” 

Regina laughed through a sob, a sound that came out strangled and raw. “I guess that’s what I get for falling in love with an adventurer, right?” Then she bit her lip as she realized what she had let slip. 

“You love me?” Emma’s smile was so wide it was blinding in its intensity. _How had she gotten this lucky?_

“I don’t know how it happened this fast,” Regina babbled. “It shouldn’t have … and I’m sorry if that makes you uncomfortable. I didn’t want it to come out like this … this quickly … I never would have said … but you almost died today and I … I couldn’t he—“ 

“I love you, too,” Emma interrupted the rambling apology. She really didn’t want Regina to backtrack any more than she already had. 

“… help myself and it just slipped …” Regina stopped mid-sentence. “What did you just say?” 

Emma chuckled, wincing a little when that made her head hurt worse. “I love you, too,” she repeated patiently, her voice firm. 

“You do?” Disbelief was written all over Regina’s face. Disbelief and sense of awe. “Are you sure? You’re not just say—“ 

“Will you please stop talking and just kiss me already?” Emma stopped her again. “I would really like to kiss you right now but moving my head hurts, so you’ll have to—“ 

Regina’s lips swallowed the rest of her sentence in the softest kiss Emma had ever received. It was so gentle she almost didn’t feel it, and it was over too quickly for her liking, so she tangled her hands in Regina’s hair and pulled her more firmly onto the bed and over her body, pressing their mouths together in a searing kiss that had them both moaning hoarsely. 

Regina tried to pull back from the kiss before they got in too deep, but Emma refused to let go, humming deep in her throat in a way that made Regina’s insides clench. “I need you,” Emma murmured against Regina’s lips before covering them again with her mouth, deepening the kiss immediately and fervently. 

Regina stood no chance against the ferocity of Emma’s desire and before long she was kissing back just as intently, driving her tongue against Emma’s in a rhythm that turned them both into one hot tangled knot of want. 

The world around them lost all meaning which is how they missed the door opening, the footsteps coming closer, and the throat being cleared behind them. Loudly. Several times. Finally, the newcomer took a metal bedpan from a nearby table and let it drop to the floor in a desperate attempt to get the women’s attention. 

Emma and Regina jumped apart as if struck, both flushing bright red at being caught making out like that. Regina fumbled with her clothes which hadn’t even been ruffled, and Emma looked anywhere but at Regina or the stranger that had entered her room. 

“Sorry about that,” the small man said, sounding uncomfortable. “But I didn’t have the time to wait until you were finished with … your _display_. I have other patients waiting as well.” He moved forward until he stood by Emma’s side, across from Regina. “Hello, Miss Swan,” he said in greeting, but his tone was robotic at best . “I’m your doctor, and I’m glad to see you seem to be feeling better.” He smirked at Emma and Regina in turn. “If you could leave us,” he said to Regina and it was clear that it was an order. 

Regina bristled at the tone in his voice and his attitude but she knew there wasn’t much to be done about it considering they had behaved completely improper just now. “Actually, I have to go anyway,” she mumbled, not looking at the doctor. 

“Can’t you stay?” Emma asked, not caring the least bit that she sounded needy or what her doctor thought. 

Regina shook her head. “There’s too much to take care of,” she explained. “But I’ll be back later, I promise.” 

It was only after Regina had left that Emma realized that she still had no idea what had happened at the warehouse. She let the doctor look into her eyes, wincing when the light hit her pupils, as she made a mental note to ask Regina again once she came back. When the doctor stepped back from the bed, she looked up at him with a raised eyebrow. “So, what’s the verdict, Doc?” 

**o o o**

Regina ran into David and Granny in the waiting area of Storybrooke’s small hospital. “How is she?” David asked. 

“She’s awake,” Regina replied with a smile, still feeling the after-effects of their kiss running through her veins. “The doctor is with her right now.” 

“And you let him kick you out?” Granny asked. “You know what a curmudgeon he can be.” 

Regina chuckled. “As much as I would love staying by her bedside for the foreseeable future, there’s a lot to do now,” she told her friend. “I don’t even want to think about the paperwork.” She rubbed her forehead. 

“Let me deal with that,” David offered. 

Regina put a hand on his arms. “Thank you, David, but I think we both know that this is something I need to do.” She sighed. “I want to be able to leave cleanly, you know that, and I need to figure out a way to explain what happened today before the files and our suspects get picked up tomorrow.” He nodded. “But you could do something for me,” she continued. 

“Anything.” 

“Keep Emma company,” she pleaded. “And … tell her what happened, will you?” 

David gave her a strange look. “You mean you didn’t?” 

Regina blushed a little. “We didn’t get around to it,” she mumbled, and both Granny and David laughed knowingly. 

“Sure,” David replied after a moment. “I’ll fill her in.” He turned and walked in the direction Regina had just come from. 

Granny watched him leave, then focused her full attention on Regina. “Can I talk to you for a minute?” 

Regina studied the older woman’s serious face. “Does it have to be now, Granny? I wasn’t joking about the paperwork.” 

“It won’t take long,” Granny told her with a small nod, “but now would be a good time, I think. Let’s go to the diner, and I’ll make you a good, strong cup of coffee.” 

Regina sighed. Coffee _did_ sound good right about now. With one last look over her shoulder towards Emma’s room, she followed Granny. “Lead the way.” 

**o o o**

David knocked on Emma’s door and then walked in. “Hey,” he greeted, glad that she was sitting up in bed and seemed alert. “How are you feeling?” 

Emma gave him a smile and tried hard to hide her disappointment that he wasn’t Regina. “Apparently, I have a mild concussion,” she said. “Which would explain the headache.” 

David stopped next to the bed. “Well, with that gash on your head,” he said, pointing to the big white bandage, “I’m not all that surprised. Also explains the nausea.” 

“Is that the voice of experience talking?” 

“Oh, yeah,” he said. “I’ve had a couple of concussions in my time. Regina even gave me one of them.” 

“Really?” Now Emma was getting more interested in the conversation. “Tell me about it.” 

David laughed lightly and settled into the chair next to the bed. “It was a few years ago when she was still staying on her family’s ranch after … after Chicago,” he began. “She was in the stables, taking care of her horses when I showed up unexpectedly. She hadn’t heard the car and she was a little jumpy, so when I suddenly showed up behind her in the barn, she turned around and hit me over the head with whatever she had in her hands at the time.” He chuckled at the memory, which admittedly was still a little hazy. “Turned out it was a pitchfork and her blow slammed me into a wooden beam. I remember waking up a while later with her being all apologetic and _so_ embarrassed.” 

Emma laughed along with David, ignoring the way her head hurt at that. “Let me guess, you’ve milked that moment for all it was worth since then.” 

“Absolutely,” he admitted cheerfully. 

They were quiet for a few minutes after that until Emma broke the silence. “Tell me what happened, David,” she asked quietly. “Regina wasn’t … exactly forthcoming earlier.” 

“Yes, I’m not surprised,” David muttered under his breath. “What do you remember?” 

“Like I told Regina,” Emma mumbled, a little embarrassed still. “I pulled a Daniel Boone all over Neal, and then I blacked out.” 

“Yeah, you fainted pretty spectacularly.” 

“I. Did. Not. Faint,” Emma growled. 

David chuckled and held up his hands in surrender. “Anyway, you did give us the chance we needed, and we took it.” He decided to keep it simple, blunt. “We managed to overwhelm Gold and his men, and Regina had Gold with a gun to his head, so everyone else became relatively easy to handle.” 

“Sounds simple enough.” Emma knew there had to be more to the story. 

“Yeah, well, it didn’t stay that way,” David continued. “When we got outside and they realized that there weren’t actually any police officers out there, all hell broke loose. Gold struggled with Regina and let me tell you, he’s surprisingly agile for a man with a limp. Neal took the opportunity to run.” 

Emma swallowed hard, sudden fear lighting a flame in her gut. “Neal escaped?” 

David shook his head. “No, no … Regina went after him, while Leroy and Granny took care of Gold.” 

Emma did a double-take at that. “Wait, Granny?” 

David laughed. “Yeah, she was leading the cavalry outside with her shotgun in hand, and I guess even Gold knew not to tangle with her.” 

“So Regina went after Neal?” 

David nodded. “And I went after them both,” he said. “I promised to keep her safe, but she didn’t really need me.” He paused. “Neal ran straight for a hidden stash of weapons by the side of the warehouse and once he was armed again, he took a shot at Regina. He missed her by a hair.” He paused again. “She didn’t.” 

David decided not to mention that Regina had gone up to Neal and had shot him again, just to make sure, or that he heard her say “ _this is for Emma”_ when she did so. That was something for Regina to tell, if she ever decided to, which he doubted. 

Emma felt almost faint with relief. Her worst nightmare was dead and couldn’t haunt her any longer. “That is really good news,” she said softly. “The bastard deserved it.” 

“I don’t know your history with him,” David said, “but I’m guessing there is one, and from everything I know about that man, I’m assuming it’s a very bad one. So yes, he probably did deserve it.” 

“But?” 

David hesitated. “But … this was the first time Regina had to kill someone … and it’s not an easy thing to handle.” 

“Oh.” Emma hadn’t thought about that, but she knew with every fiber of her being that Regina would be able to deal with it. “She will,” she insisted. “And she has her friends to help.” 

“That she does,” David agreed. 

“What about Gold and the others?” Emma asked curiously. 

David sighed. “Once Gold realized his son was dead, he went berserk. He managed to free himself somehow, but couldn’t get his hands on a weapon. He tore through the group of people, however, and tried to run, but somebody stopped him before he could get away.” 

“Who?” 

“Belle French.” 

“Belle French?” Emma gasped. “As in Gold’s fuss?” 

“Yeah, surprised us all. We didn’t even know she was there or that she was armed, but she pulled out this tiny bean shooter and plugged him as he ran towards her,” David explained. “Straight in the heart, too. The look on his face was incredible. He didn’t see that coming at all.” 

“Well, I’m sure he wasn’t the only one.” 

“No, he wasn’t.” David smiled. “She said afterwards that before today she had no idea what he had been up to or who he was. All she had wanted was a library for the town and to be a little spoiled by a rich man. So when Granny started rounding up the people to go to the warehouse, Belle had realized who exactly she had been pitchin’ the woo with, so to speak, and had decided to make him pay for deceiving her. Her final words to him were _“I’m not some gangster’s moll!”_ and it was a pretty good moment for everyone. Well, except for Gold.” 

Emma studied the look of satisfaction on David’s face. A lot of the tension had left his features and he looked lighter somehow, younger even. “I’m glad this is over,” she said after a moment. 

David sighed. “It mostly is, yes, and it’s good to be able to rest … finally. It’s been a long decade chasing that man,” he admitted. “There’s a lot of paperwork to deal with but once we have that taken care of, we can go back to our lives, whatever they will be from now on.” 

Emma looked at him curiously. “What are you going to do?” 

“I think I’m going to stick around here,” David said softly, as if more to himself than Emma. “They need a sheriff around here now, or so I heard. Settle down, grow some roots, maybe get married.” 

“That Mrs. Grundy you’ve been gone on?” Emma asked knowingly. 

“How do you know about that?” David asked. “And Mary-Margaret is _not_ as uptight as everyone thinks she is,” he complained. 

“if you say so,” Emma said with a shrug. “Leroy told me about her and you that first night at the club.” _God, that felt like a lifetime ago now._

“Ah, yes … Leroy,” David laughed. “He’s probably going to stay here as well. He’s sweet on one of the women in town, and if he doesn’t do anything stupid to get the icy mitt, he’ll be wearing a manacle sooner or later.” 

“What about Regina?” Emma asked what she really wanted to know. 

David mustered her. “I don’t know, Emma,” he stated softly. “I know she wants to get out of the feds … but she never told me what she was planning to do after. We’ve been working towards this one goal for a very long time and now that it’s done, a lot of things will change. She might go back to her ranch … or maybe she’ll go back to New York and finally become the famous singer I know she could be. She has a lot of options … so what are _your_ plans?” he asked pointedly. 

Emma met his eyes with an uncertain look. “I … I have to go back to Iowa,” she muttered. “I can’t just leave Marco, especially now that he’s been hurt. He’ll need me, he’ll need my help with the airplanes … and I need to be in the air, testing the airplanes we build. It’s all I know.” 

“But I thought you and Regina …” David stopped. “I figured—” 

“We’ve never talked about the future, David,” Emma interrupted him. “I mean, when would we? We _only_ just met.” 

“Do you _want_ a future with her?” David inquired intently. “You do love her, don’t you?” 

Emma thought about his questions for a very long time. “Right now, I don’t know what I want,” she finally whispered. “Or if it even matters what I want, in the grand scheme of things.” 

David sighed, running a hand through his short hair. He looked disappointed. “Then I guess you should talk to Regina, fly girl.” 

“I guess I should,” Emma conceded, realizing that she found that thought scarier than being held captive by Neal. 

_What were they going to do with their disparate lives?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Annotations
> 
> pull a Daniel Boone — throw up  
> fuss — girlfriend  
> plug — shoot  
> pitching (the) woo — make love, have sex  
> Mrs. Grundy — an uptight or very straight-laced individual  
> icy mitt — rejection from the object of one’s affection  
> manacle — wedding ring
> 
> _Take My Word_ was written by Benny Goodman.


	19. Chapter 18: Don't Let Your Love Go Wrong

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: Not my characters, but it is my plot.
> 
> A/N: Two things: 1) I'm sorry this update has taken so long, but the final chapter has proven very hard to write. I'm finding it very hard to say goodbye to this story, and 2) I lied to you in the A/N for the last chapter because THIS is the penultimate chapter. Turns out the final chapter was turning into something much longer than I thought it would so I decided to split it into two parts. That means we have one more chapter and an epilogue to go after this.

**Chapter 18: Don't Let Your Love Go Wrong**

Emma woke up and looked around, remnants of crazy dreams and too many thoughts jumbled in her aching head. "Ouch," she mumbled. 

Instantly, there was a cool hand on her forehead and Regina's face came into view, barely visible in the dim light. "Are you okay?" 

“Swell.” Emma grimaced as she tried to nod without jostling her head wound. She wondered how many stitches they had put in there. "You came back," she whispered, surprise evident in her tone. “What time is it?" 

Regina smiled softly. "After midnight." 

"And you're _here_?" _And not in ou— in bed?_ Emma added in her head. 

"Well, I thought I could just as well do my paperwork here where I can keep an eye on you." Regina moved her head in the direction of the bedside table where a large stack of files was resting precariously on the small space available. Then Emma noticed that the hand not currently resting on her face also held a file. 

She studied Regina and the way exhaustion hung around her like a shroud. “You should sleep," she told her softly. "You look totally joed." 

Regina sighed. "It's been a very long day," she admitted. "I just needed to ..." _Make sure you're all right,_ she thought, but something stopped her from saying it. 

From the smile on Emma's face it was clear that the other woman understood her just fine nonetheless. "Thank you." She pressed her head deeper into the pillow and closed her eyes again. "We need to talk," she suddenly said out of the blue. 

Regina chuckled at the half asleep woman. "We do, but not now." She trailed her fingertips down the side of Emma's face in a gesture so tender it made Emma's heart clench. " _Now_ you need to get some more sleep." 

Emma shuffled around on the bed until she was lying as close to the far edge as she could. "You need sleep too," she said before Regina could wonder if she'd said something wrong to make Emma move away from her. "Come on." She held up the thin sheet that covered her. 

Regina shook her head almost violently. "Emma, that is entirely inappropriate," she admonished. "I can't do that. What if someone comes in? Not everybody in this town is as understanding as Granny and Ruby, or as willing to overlook … _this_.” She pointed between them. 

“If someone comes in, they’ll find two people bunking," Emma replied defiantly. "One of whom is the woman who just saved their little town from their mobster of a mayor and his chopper squad. Droppers, the lot of them.” She raised an eyebrow at Regina, wincing at little when that pulled on her stitches. “You won’t get the bum’s rush, don’t worry.” Regina still didn't move. "Please?" 

_No, not that pleading look. Not that, please. Oh, God._ “Well then," Regina finally sighed, trying to sound haughty and long-suffering, unaware that Emma could practically read her internal struggle on her face. “If you insist. But it’s _just_ so you can go back to sleep, and I'm _not_ getting under that blanket with you." _You're only wearing a hospital gown and I wouldn't get any sleep whatsoever._

Emma grinned triumphantly. "Suit yourself.” 

Regina rolled her eyes but put down the file she was holding and climbed onto the bed. She carefully arranged herself next to Emma, trying to give her space, but Emma was having none of it. She snaked her arm under Regina’s shoulders and simply pulled her into her own body. “Much better,” she whispered, sounding incredibly satisfied. 

Regina couldn’t find it in herself to disagree. Her arm curled around Emma’s midsection as she nuzzled into her neck. She closed her eyes with a sigh and relaxed for the first time in many, many hours. 

Emma pressed a kiss to dark hair and smiled. “I love you,” she whispered. _I just don’t know what to do about that._

Her only reply was a soft snore. 

**o o o**

They didn’t manage to talk the next morning because the nurses came in and did chase Regina out despite Emma’s sleepy protests. Regina shot the nurses a dark look, but grabbed her files and left them to do their job with a softly whispered “told you so” into Emma’s ear in lieu of a goodbye kiss. 

She didn’t make it back to the hospital that day, and Emma spent most of her day by Marco’s bedside, telling him about the town they were in and the woman who filled her every thought, happy that her old friend was doing well and was recovering quickly from what he called “a darn scratch, nothing serious”. 

David came by to visit, as did Granny and Ruby, and all of them told Emma how busy Regina was in the aftermath of the take-down and how sorry she was that she couldn’t stay by her side. Emma understood, of course, and nodded at all of them, but as soon as she was alone, she bit her lip and wished she had talked to Regina the night before. The longer she had to think about everything, the more convoluted the situation seemed to become in her mind, and the more scared she became. 

Emma went to sleep that night running scenarios in her head. She wanted to be with Regina, but she also needed to make sure that Marco was okay, and she needed to work with planes. She was an aviator, flying was in her blood. If she couldn’t fly, she’d wither away, she knew. _I’m going to ask Regina to come with me to Iowa,_ was her final conclusion. _Regina can run the business end of the company, and maybe we can get some horses._

She fell asleep with a smile, never realizing that Regina came to sit by her bedside for a couple of hours, consumed by her own thoughts. 

Emma and Marco were both released the following morning, both antsy to go to the airfield to check on their plane. Emma wouldn’t put it past Gold’s men to wreck her beautiful lady, and Marco just wanted to be back to tinkering with the best plane he ever built. And if focusing on her plane gave Emma an excuse not to miss Regina so damn much, who seemed to be too busy to come see her anyway, then she wasn’t going to mention it. 

For three days, Emma and Regina managed to miss each other, first by bad luck and circumstances, then through fear and hurt feelings that accumulated over the course of the three days. 

Emma returned to their room at Granny’s late every night pleasantly tired from a day of hard work, but Regina was never there when she arrived. Regina came by the room every morning, but Emma was always already gone no matter how early it was, back to the airfield, back to her plane, back where she really wanted to be, or so Regina thought. 

_Looks like she can’t wait to get her airplane ready to take her away from here. And why would she even want to stay here with me? I got her into danger, and she almost died because of me … of course she wants to be as far away from here … from me as possible._ Regina’s thoughts ran dark as she was bent over her paperwork, trying hard to figure out what Gold had done to this town during his time as mayor. 

Nobody seemed to notice that the two stubborn women grew more and more miserable with every passing moment. 

Except for one person. 

**o o o**

Granny growled at the toaster and threw her dish rag on the counter with a flourish. 

“Did the toaster finally bite you?” Ruby asked, grinning broadly. 

Granny gave her a death glare. “Lord knows I love you, child, but if you know what’s good for you, you’ll keep out of my way today,” she warned. 

Ruby frowned. “What’s going on?” she asked. “You’ve been getting more and more huffy over the past few days. Come on, talk to me.” 

“Talking,” Granny muttered. “That’s the whole point. They need to talk.” 

“Is this about Regina and Emma?” Ruby didn’t have to think far to get to the root of Granny’s agitation. “Still no progress?” 

Granny shook her head with a sigh. “If I had known what my suggestion would cause, I’d have kept my mouth shut. I had no idea that Regina would take to it with so much … enthusiasm.” 

Ruby slung an arm around her grandmother’s shoulder. “I really don’t think this is your fault,” she said. “I think they’re just scared.” 

“What’s to be scared about?” Granny threw her hands up. “They love each other. I mean, I know it’s not what you’d expect to see and many here will raise an eyebrow or two but still. They can’t deny that they’re in love.” 

“Exactly.” Ruby smiled and poured herself a cup of coffee from the big pot on the counter, happy to enjoy a small break. It was rare enough that the diner was empty. “And if _that_ doesn’t scare them, I don’t know what should.” 

“What are you talking about, child?” 

Ruby sighed. “Look, they’re both very independent women, and if I’m not mistaken also quite headstrong,” she pointed out. Granny nodded. “And they both have lives … and falling in love forces them to make some hard choices. My guess is they don’t trust themselves or each other yet to make that choice.” 

Granny grumbled under her breath. “It’s been three darn days and they both look like their puppies died. Regina hasn’t slept in days, except for some cat naps in that office and Emma’s spending all her time with that aeroplane of hers. I can’t bear to see them like that much longer! If they don’t talk to each other soon, I’m going to lock them up in a broom closet.” 

Ruby chuckled. “If they don’t come to their senses, you might have to.” 

The bell above the door chimed and Emma walked in as if summoned by Granny and Ruby’s words. “Hi, Ruby.” She gave a little wave. 

“Well, well,” Ruby grinned. “Look who the wind blew in.” 

Granny stormed around the counter. “If it isn’t the elusive Emma Swan,” she chided her in greeting. “Not with your precious plane for a change?” 

Emma was taken aback. “What’s going on with you?” She looked from Ruby to Granny and back again. “What did I do?” 

Granny huffed loudly and threw up her hands. For one scary second Emma had the weird feeling that the older woman was gearing up to cool her but then she just grumbled something inaudible under her breath and disappeared into the kitchen. 

Emma and Ruby watched her go. “Seriously, Ruby, what did I do to her?” Emma sounded confused. “I thought she liked me.” 

Ruby sighed. “She does,” she replied softly. “But she _loves_ Regina like her own daughter …” 

“Oh.” Emma wasn’t sure what to say. “I’m not … I …” 

Ruby handed her a coffee. “Drink this,” she ordered. “Then tell me why you’ve been avoiding the hottest woman in town … well, after me, of course.” 

“What makes you think I’ve been avoiding Regina?” Emma put the coffee on the counter, untouched. “If anyone’s doing the avoiding it’s her … She hasn’t slept in our room since I was discharged from the hospital,” she explained. “What am I supposed to think?” 

“That she’s busy,” Granny yelled from the kitchen before looking around the doorjamb. “She’s been working herself to the ground trying to clean up the mess this town is in after Gold’s reign of terror,” she continued none too patiently. “Besides, she’s been in here every morning for breakfast after finding your room empty …” 

“She was here?” Emma groaned. “I don’t understand what’s going on,” she muttered. “One second we’re all cuddled up in my hospital bed, then suddenly we don’t see each other at all.” _And I miss her._

Granny gave her a sad smile. “Regina is very focused on her work,” she pointed out. “And I might have something to do with that, I’m sorry.” 

“What are you talking about?” Emma was getting more confused, not less. “I thought she was just doing a bit of paperwork to wrap up the case against Gold.” 

Granny frowned. “You really haven’t talked at all, have you?” 

Emma shook her head. “Not really, no. Why, what’s going on that I don’t know?” 

“You need to talk to Regina.” Granny’s voice brooked no argument. 

“Yeah,” Emma breathed. “That’s actually why I came here.” She couldn’t hold back her little happy grin, “We finished work on my airplane this morning. Now the engine’s hitting on all six and she’s all ready to fly again.” 

Granny’s face turned to stone. “How nice of you that you at least thought to say goodbye before you’re flying off into the sunset,” she growled as she turned and left the room again, this time slamming the door behind her. 

Emma tried to pick her jaw off the floor and looked to Ruby for a translation of Granny’s behavior, but found that her face wasn’t the friendliest either. “Can we go back a few steps?” she asked. “I still have no idea what I did wrong. I’m not planning on flying off anywhere.” 

“You aren’t?” 

“No, dammit!” Emma shouted. _Well, not without talking to Regina first._ “I came here to see if you knew where I could find Regina, so I could take her out to the airfield with me,” she explained, lowering her voice to normal levels again. “I promised her I’d take her flying once the Lady was repaired.” 

Ruby sighed in relief. “Thank God,” she breathed. “That’s awfully romantic. I’m glad, though … I’m not sure I could have kept Granny from getting out her shotgun if you had just left. She’s rather protective of Regina, and she would have chased you to the gates of hell.” 

“I’m getting that, but I really didn’t do anything,” Emma muttered., feeling vastly misunderstood by two people she’d come to like very much. “Do you know where Regina is?” she asked after a moment, joy a little dimmer now in her eyes. 

“Try Town Hall. I think she claimed Gold’s office for herself.” 

With a curt nod and a grateful smile Emma turned around and left the diner, breaking into a jog as soon as she hit the sidewalk outside. 

“You can come back out now, Granny,” Ruby yelled into the kitchen. “She’s gone to talk to Regina. Looks like you won’t have to lock them up together after all.” 

“Hallelujah.” 

**o o o**

Regina threw down her pen, frustrated beyond belief, and rubbed her eyes with her palms. She wasn’t wearing any make-up to worry about anyway. 

“Maybe you should take a break,” David suggested casually. “Have you even slept the past few days?” 

Regina shook her head, a huge yawn barely hidden beneath a hand hastily moved to cover her mouth. “I need to get this done, and there isn’t much time,” she told him as if that was news to him. “You heard what the commissioner said.” 

“Yeah, yeah,” David sighed. “Go through the books, find all the evidence … I just don’t know what the hurry is since Gold is already wearing a wooden kimono.” 

“But there’s the rest of them,” Regina reminded him, “and my guess is that they want us to find anything they can use in the case against Frankenstein … figure out if there were more people involved.” 

David whistled softly. “That was a damn surprise to me, I’m tellin’ ya.” He pulled over another file from the huge stack sitting on the desk between them. “Never would have pegged Gold for a Nazi.” 

“I don’t think ideology meant anything to him.” Regina shrugged. “If there was money in it, he went for it …” 

“Which is why we’re sitting here instead of being out there, enjoying the spoils of our victory,” David finished her thought. 

Regina chuckled. “The spoils of our victory?” 

“Yeah, boss.” David tossed his file back on the desk and stretched with his arms behind his head. “I should be taking Mary Margaret out for a nice dinner, and _you_ should be spending your time with Emma instead of Gold’s ledgers.” 

A cloud moved over Regina’s face and for once it had nothing to do with the mention of David’s mousy girlfriend. “She’s been avoiding me, I think,” she mumbled softly after a moment. 

David gave her a shrewd look. “And what is _this_?” He pointed to the files. “Seeking her out?” He sighed. “What are you so afraid of, Regina?” 

“I’m not—“ 

“Don’t,” David interrupted her. “Not after all those years and everything we’ve gone through together. I _know_ you, Regina.” 

Regina remained quiet, seemingly lost in thought. 

“Regina,” David urged. “What’s going on?” 

“I … _am_ afraid,” Regina admitted hesitantly. “I love her, David, and it does things to me. For the first time in forever, I actually have something to lose, and it terrifies me so much that I’d rather avoid her than talk to her and get confirmation of my biggest fear.” 

“That she’ll leave.” 

Regina nodded. “You know I can’t leave here, not now, not after what I promised Granny.” She shook her head. “Besides, over the course of the past months we’ve been here this somehow turned into my home, David. And I want Emma here with me.” 

“Then talk to her,” David insisted. “Tell her what you feel and ask her to stay.” 

“If only it were that easy,” Regina sighed. “But it’s not … Emma has responsibilities too, and she ca—“ 

The door opening with a bang stopped whatever Regina was going to say. David twisted around in his seat to see who would interrupt them this rudely, and smiled when he saw Emma. _Of course._

“So you can fly, but you can’t open doors?” he greeted her with a broad grin, ready to jump up and leave to give the women room to talk. 

Emma shrugged, completely unconcerned. “Hello, Regina.” 

Her voice was soft and if David wasn’t completely wrong, a little hesitant. _Jesus, these two …_ “I’m just going to …” He stood and pointed towards the door, making his intentions clear. 

There was a moment of utter panic in Regina’s eyes, but it was Emma who spoke. “Nah, you don’t have to go,” she told him. “I’m actually here to kidnap Regina.” 

“Kidnap me?” Regina sounded intrigued despite herself. Seeing Emma standing there now made her realize just how much she had missed her the past few days. “Where do you plan on taking me?” 

“Up in the air,” Emma replied with a smile. “The Lady is ready for you to meet her, and I would like to formally introduce you two in the best way possible: I want to take you flying.” 

Regina loved the happy gleam in Emma’s eyes, the sheer joy she could see on her face at the thought of flying. _I can never ask her to leave that behind. She would never be happy here in Storybrooke with me._ Her heart broke at the thought, but she stood and nodded with a small smile that didn’t quite reach her own eyes. “Well then, we better not let the Lady wait.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Annotations:  
> joed — tired  
> bunk — sleep  
> chopper squad — gang with machine guns  
> dropper — hired killer  
> get the bum’s rush — be kicked out  
> cool sb. — knock out   
> hit on all six — perform 100% (comes from running on all cylinders)  
> wooden kimono — coffin
> 
> "Don't Let Your Love Go Wrong" was written by George Whiting, Nat Schwartz and J. C. Johnson


	20. Chapter 19: There Goes My heart

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: Not my characters. Just my AU. 
> 
> A/N: Well, this is it ... the final chapter. BUT there will be an epilogue. I apologize in advance for this chapter -- but it is a noir story ... (did I mention there will be an epilogue?).

**Chapter 19: There Goes My Heart**

Emma watched with a smile as Regina ran a careful hand along the lower wing of her biplane, its full-metal body bright and gleaming in the afternoon sun. 

“It’s beautiful,” Regina said softly. Her hand traced the letters of the airplane’s name, written in black cursive on its side. “Hello, Lady,” she murmured. “Pleased to meet you.” 

Emma smiled as she imagined her airplane purring under Regina’s touch. “I think she likes you,” she told Regina while grabbing her flight suit from where it rested on a box in the corner of the hangar. 

“I bet you say that to all the dames,” Regina teased over her shoulder. If these were among the last hours she had with Emma before the other woman left, she’d enjoy them and remember them fondly in the darker days to come. 

Emma chuckled lightly, but didn’t reply. Instead she held the flight suit out for Regina to take. “Ready to fly, beautiful?” 

Regina turned around. “I don’t even know if you’re talking to me or your Lady,” she laughed. Seeing the flight suit, she added, “You want me to wear _that_?” 

Emma wondered how high that eyebrow on Regina’s head could climb up if sufficiently provoked. She hoped she would get to test that in the years to come. “The cockpit may not be open, but it still gets kinda cold up there and I want you to be comfortable. You can wear it over your clothes, it’s large enough for that.” 

Reluctantly, Regina took the heavy flight suit and started climbing into it with Emma’s help. “I’ll look like the Michelin Man in this,” she muttered as she shoved her arms into the sleeves. 

“It’s padded to keep the pilot warm,” Emma explained as she pulled the zipper closed. “You look like a real fly girl, and a very beautiful one at that.” She cupped Regina’s cheek for a moment. “And yes, I’m talking to you.” She leaned in for a short, sweet kiss. 

Regina swallowed hard, the softness of Emma’s kiss overwhelming her for a moment. “What about you?” she whispered to cover the fact that she had to break off that wonderful kiss before she started to cry. 

Emma studied Regina’s face only to realize to her frustration that she wasn’t able to read what was going on behind those usually so expressive eyes. A feeling of dread pooled in her belly but she swallowed it away and smiled. “I’ll be wearing Marco’s,” she said with exaggerated cheer. She waved to her old friend who was standing by the small office building leaning on a crutch as he talked to Mike Tillman. “Wait till you see me in that,” she added with an honest grin. “If my boots weren’t so high you could see my bare gams in that suit. The old man sure has short pins …” 

Regina let her eyes wander over Emma’s body, tracing a direct line from her face to her toes. “Pity about the boots,” she finally decided with a wink. 

Emma almost sagged in relief at the playful tone, but she hid that by quickly putting on Marco’s flight suit. As soon as she was done, she gently pushed Regina towards the plane. “Come on, let’s fly.” 

Regina got up on the wing and crawled through the small door. Halfway inside she stopped and looked back over her shoulder. “Emma, I …” 

Emma had one hand in the small of Regina’s back and felt her tense. “What is it?” she asked. Regina seemed nervous. “I’m a really good pilot, honestly.” 

Regina gave her a long look, quirked eyebrow and all. “Emma, the only reason we met is that you crashed this airplane here in Storybrooke …” 

Emma laughed out loud. “True,” she admitted. “But that was only because the engine had a little hiccup, and I did set the Lady down here without even giving her a scratch.” 

Regina looked between the slight dent on the wing she was still half standing on and Emma, but refrained from commenting verbally. Her eyebrow and her smirk did all the talking Emma needed to hear. “Regina,” she said seriously. “I would never let you get on that airplane, if I didn’t know that you’re absolutely safe with me.” 

Regina sighed. “I know … it’s just … I’ve never flown before.” 

_Ah._ Emma nodded with a knowing smirk, glad that Regina couldn’t see it with her back turned. “I’ll do my best to make sure you’ll enjoy yourself.” She gave Regina another gentle push and the other woman disappeared into the cockpit, following quickly before Regina could change her mind. 

Emma showed Regina how to use the seatbelt, before buckling herself in and starting the engine. Once the roar of the propeller filled the small aircraft, Emma grinned back at Regina who was sitting right behind her. “I promise you’ll be safe,” she said, raising her voice to be heard above the din. “And I promise no wild maneuvers, okay?” 

Regina nodded and smiled tentatively. _Wild maneuvers?_

“Okay, then.” Emma turned away and focused on her steering stick. “Here we go.” 

Within minutes the airplane was in the air and Emma pretended not to hear the excited gasp Regina made when the plane left solid ground. 

**o o o**

Flying was exhilarating, Regina decided as Emma did a medium bank over Storybrooke, affording Regina a good look over the town that had become her home. She could see Emma’s profile as she looked out the window herself, saw the content smile on her face and had to fight the urge to just wrap her arms around the younger woman and never let her go. 

_Why couldn’t they just keep flying? Fly somewhere far away, where they could start anew,_ Regina wondered. Then her eyes fell on Storybrooke’s small town hall and the burned-out husk of her former club and home, the cannery, the warehouses by the harbor, the fishing boats gently bopping up and down on the tiny waves. _Responsibilities, that’s why._ They both had them, and those responsibilities didn’t care about things like hearts and wants and desires. 

Regina’s hand gripped Emma’s shoulder, maybe harder than she meant to, and Emma tilted her head to the side to press her cheek against Regina’s hand. “You okay?” Emma asked, barely audible over the din inside the cockpit. 

_So she had noticed the death grip on her shoulder._ Regina sighed softly, knowing that Emma wouldn’t be able to hear it. “No, I’m not,” she whispered, and her free hand moved to press against her eyes in an attempt to stave off the tears she could feel gathering there. 

“Regina?” There was concern in Emma’s voice now. 

“I’m fine, Emma,” Regina replied loud enough to be heard. The last thing she needed was Emma turning around and seeing her distress. “You were right, I do love flying.” _As long as it is with you._

Emma pressed her face even harder against Regina’s hand. “I’m glad.” 

**o o o**

Granny looked up at the sound of an airplane circling over Storybrooke, then shared a smile with her granddaughter. 

“You think Emma could get Regina to fly with her?” Ruby asked. 

“I hope so,” Granny replied. “They need to talk.” 

“With the noise that thing is making?” Ruby chuckled. “I don’t think talking is an option.” 

“Maybe not while they’re up there, child,” Granny conceded. “But they have to come down at some point.” 

“Let’s hope neither of them runs once they do …” 

**o o o**

Emma landed the airplane as smoothly as she could in her attempt to keep Regina feeling good about flying. _Of course you’re not trying to impress her, Swan._ She rolled towards the hangar and stopped the airplane with the nose just inside. 

“It’s so quiet all of a sudden,” were Regina’s first words a few moments after Emma killed the engine. 

Emma laughed as she turned back to face Regina. “Yeah, it’s a bit loud up there, but you get used to it.” 

Regina’s heart skipped a beat at the implication of more of this … more flying, more time, more _them_. “Maybe,” she said with a small smile. “You’ll just have to take me with you more often then.” 

“Ah ah.” Emma wagged her finger. “I thought this was meant to be an exchange of sorts,” she said. “Which means _you_ have to take _me_ riding now.” 

Regina couldn’t have stopped her smile had she wanted to at the thought. There was just a tiny issue. “I don’t have my horses here in Storybrooke. They’re back in Indiana, on my father’s farm,” she replied. “But I can have them brought here, I guess.” 

“Hold up … brought _here_? To Storybrooke?” Emma asked. “But I thought … I was hoping …” 

“Emma,” Regina interrupted her gently, knowing they couldn’t avoid this elephant between them any longer. “We need to talk.” 

**o o o**

They didn’t speak as they climbed out of the airplane, and left the hangar to find a quiet spot to talk. They finally sat on the grass at the end of the airfield, in a sunny spot that made their hair and skin glow, and which allowed them a view of the ocean. 

They sat next to each other, shoulders touching just barely, both lost in thought. Finally, Emma had enough of the silence. Patience had never been her strong suit. “You said you wanted to talk,” she said, hoping that was enough to get Regina started. She didn’t want to be the one to speak first. 

Regina jumped a little, torn from her thoughts by Emma’s voice. “I think we both have things to say,” she said, feelings making her voice raspy. She cleared her throat. “Now that the threat of Gold is over and your airplane is repaired … what are we going to do?” Emma had never heard Regina sound so unsure. “What are your plans?” 

Emma sighed as she took Regina’s hand and held it firmly, entwining their fingers. Maybe it was good that she was the first to have to say something. She decided to put herself out there. “I want to be with you,” was the most important thing to get out. “I have never felt like this about anybody, and I can’t imagine …” She broke off and squeezed Regina’s hand, feeling the pressure returned in understanding. “I owe Marco my life,” she began to explain. “He needs me, needs my help with the airplanes, the business, …” She shrugged helplessly. 

“You have to go back to Iowa,” Regina stated softly. Just like she had feared all along. 

Emma nodded. “Yeah, I do but … but I want you to come with me, Regina.” She turned her face to meet Regina’s wet and dark eyes. “I want us to have a life. We could run the business together or maybe bring your horses to Iowa and start a breeding program or something.” She paused for a deep breath, realizing she was beginning to ramble. “Will you come away with me, Regina?” 

There it was, Regina thought, her hopes and dreams, actually there for her to grab and hold on to. _Except for …_ “Emma, I want to be with you, too,” she rasped around a sob. She cried and cursed herself for doing so at the same time. _Why was she crying so much lately?_ “But I can’t come with you.” 

“You can’t?” Emma’s head reared back, her voice reduced to a croak. The visions in her head of a wonderful future for the two of them ruthlessly torn away by five tiny words. _I can’t come with you._ “Why not?” 

Regina moved around until she was facing Emma. She cupped the other woman’s face with both her hands. “I have a responsibility here,” she tried to explain. “This town was disrupted terribly by Gold and his machinations, by the way he abused his power as mayor, and I feel duty-bound to help repair the damage.” 

Emma swallowed around her own tears. “But that’s not really your responsibility,” she whispered. “That’s on Gold, and you finished him. Your job here is done.” Her hands curled into fists. “What is it that you think you can do for them now?” 

Regina gently wiped Emma’s tears with her thumbs. “Granny asked me to take over as mayor here, at least until things are back on track.” 

“You want to be a small town mayor?” Emma couldn’t believe it. “What about your dreams? Being a singer? Being with me?” 

“The town wants the club back, too. I guess they got used to the jazz life,” Regina revealed. “Granny has already found a building to convert.” 

“And you decided all of that without talking to me?” It was clear that Emma was hurt from the way she pulled her face away from Regina’s touch. “Do you even love me? Or was that all a beautiful lie?” 

“Oh God, Emma, why would I lie about that?” Regina cried out. “Of course I love you! I love you more than I ever thought possible … but I have responsibilities, and I can’t just shirk them for my own happiness.” 

“Why the hell not? Don’t you deserve to be happy, too?” 

“I had hoped I could persuade you to move to Storybrooke, to be honest,” Regina said softly. “To stay here, stay with me.” 

“And do what?” Emma asked gruffly. 

“Regina pointed at the hangar in the distance. “There’s an airfield here with a hangar and everything. I had hoped that maybe you could come here, airplanes and all. Mike said he’d gladly share the space with you. I think he’d love to work with you actually.” 

“And leave Marco to fend for himself?” Emma asked. “Or make him leave the place that has been his home for the past however many years? I can’t ask that of him, Regina … he deserves better from me after everything he’s done for me. I can’t ask him to change everything about his life just so I can be happy.” 

Regina leaned her head back to look at a lonely cloud moving in front of the sun, casting everything in shadows. _How fitting._ “I understand,” she said hoarsely. “As much as I’d love to be with you, I can’t ask you to uproot your whole life for me,” she continued, voice soft and pain-filled. 

“And I can’t ask you to just run from what you consider your responsibilities,” Emma added in a similar voice. 

“It seems we’re at an impasse then,” Regina sighed. “I have to stay, and you can’t.” 

Emma sniffled as she felt her heart breaking at the definitive sound of the words. “This can’t be it,” she declared, shaking her head. “Not forever. I can’t accept that.” 

“What do you mean?” _Was that hope curling in her chest?_

“I mean … let me go back with Marco tomorrow and help him till he gets completely back on his feet,” Emma explained, thoughts forming on the fly. “See how the business develops, see how things are going here for you, stay in contact … I’ll even write you letters … and in a couple of months or so, we talk again.” 

“You’re leaving tomorrow?” Regina gasped. 

Emma nodded. “We have to get back,” she said. “And I can’t drag this out, saying goodbye to you for days on end. It would kill me.” 

“Yeah.” _It would kill me, too,_ Regina thought. 

“Do we have a deal?” Emma asked. 

Regina nodded, heart and throat tighter than she’d ever felt them. “We have a deal.” Then she did the only thing that might help alleviate the pain. She kissed Emma with every ounce of love in her body and heart. 

Only to realize, as Emma kissed her back with equal amounts of feeling, tasting of salt and heartbreak, that it didn’t help. At all. 

**o o o**

“Saps, the both of you,” was Granny’s comment when she saw their faces on their return to the diner. She followed them up to their room to try and talk some sense into them, and they were both getting tired of it. “Well, this is clearly all wet.” 

“Granny,” Emma growled after a while of listening to why she should be staying in Storybrooke. Regina had just excused herself to freshen up, and Emma grabbed the bull by the horns. “This is how it _has_ to be.” 

She bit back the _thanks in no small part to you_ that was sitting at the tip of her tongue just waiting to burst forth. Granny heard it anyway, loud and clear, Emma could tell from the blush that slowly covered her face. “I’m sorry, Emma,” Granny whispered urgently. “I really am. I didn’t know …” 

“Didn’t know what?” Emma asked without looking up from where she was stuffing things into her bag. “That I couldn’t just leave my old life and start afresh here?” 

“I didn’t know about your friend or think about obligations you might have back in Iowa,” Granny admitted. “I thought you were a fly girl, and that you could make Storybrooke your home just as easily as any other place, the base for future adventures. _With_ Regina.” 

Emma sighed, looking utterly defeated for a moment. “I know, Granny,” she finally sighed. “I know I can seem like a bit of a bindle stiff and I’m not really angry with you … just with …” She hesitated. 

“With Regina?” Granny gasped. 

“The _situation_ … everything.” Emma sat down heavily on the chair in the corner. “It’s unfair. Why does she have to be so darn responsible? So dutiful?” 

Granny watched her shrewdly. “Like you, you mean?” 

Emma looked up sharply. “What?” 

“You’re just as bound by obligations and the people you feel responsible for as she is,” Granny pointed out. “You have your friend and your business in Iowa, Regina has her family and her duty here, in this town.” 

“Her family?” 

“What do you think David is to her?” Granny asked. “Or Leroy? Or even me and Ruby? The boys are staying in Storybrooke, too, so they can all stay together … and there are quite a few people in this town that have come to love Regina. So yes, Emma, family.” 

Emma nodded ruefully. “You’re right,” she agreed. “We’ll find a way, somehow.” _I hope. We have to._

The door opened and Regina came in, looking curiously from Granny to Emma and back, wondering why the room felt more tense than when she had escaped to the bathroom. “Did I miss something?” 

Granny and Emma shared a look. “No,” they both said simultaneously. “Nothing.” 

“Well, girls,” Granny said as she got up from the bed. “I have to go back downstairs. Can’t leave Ruby alone with the late dinner rush.” She left without waiting for a reply. 

Emma walked slowly over to Regina, who was standing next to the bed, staring at its surface with a forlorn expression. “Hey,” she said softly, reaching out towards Regina with one hand. 

Regina looked over her shoulder. “Hey,” she whispered back, automatically grasping Emma’s hand. “Done packing?” 

Emma swallowed, the simple question hitting her in the gut like a sockdollager. “Yeah,” she croaked. “Wasn’t much to pack.” She took a step closer to Regina. “Is there anything you … you’d like to do tonight?” 

Regina turned to face Emma and curled her fists into the rough cloth of the shirt Emma wore. “Shut up and kiss me, Ms. Swan,” she said with tears in her eyes. “Kiss me and love me and make me forget about tomorrow.” 

**o o o**

They made love for hours and hours until the evening turned to night and night turned to early morning. There was a desperate tinge to their touches, an importance to not miss a moan, a sigh, a name cried out in release or begging. It was soft one moment, as if they had all the time in the world, then frenzied, as if they had to cram a lifetime of love-making into one last night. 

No matter what they did and how often they came together in that night, wasn’t enough. They both knew it wouldn’t ever be enough. The night listened to their words of need, want, desire, the cries they let out and the silent cries they bit back, the cries of anguish and despair, of a different need, want, desire. 

They finally fell asleep tangled in each other, both too tired to move. The last thing Emma heard before she drifted off was Regina’s mumbled “I love you, Emma. Goodbye.” 

When Emma woke up from Marco’s loud knocks at her door, she was alone. 

Her heart sank. 

**o o o**

Regina wasn’t in the diner, and Granny swore she had no idea where she was. Ruby and David shook their heads, and Leroy only grumbled into his coffee. The diner was filled with faces she knew, and Emma wondered why. 

“They’re all going out to the airfield to say goodbye,” Ruby explained with a grin. “We’re even going to close the diner for an hour or so.” 

Emma was touched and just nodded, not knowing what else to say. 

“Ready to go, Emma?” Marco asked from across the table. He knew Emma well enough to realize that she didn’t want to leave this place or the love she had found in it. He knew she only left because of him and he felt bad about it, but the truth was that he would need her for a while. So he didn’t say anything about the desperate look in Emma’s eyes, just like he hadn’t said anything to the angry scolding he head gotten from the feisty owner of the diner the night before. 

_What a bearcat, that Granny Lucas_ , he thought with a smile. They had talked once she had finished berating him, and she had apologized and explained that she had only aced out of love for Emma and Regina. Their talk had gone on long into the night, and now Marco was slowly forming plans of his own. 

“As ready as I’ll ever be,” Emma said after another long, sad look around the diner. Still no Regina. 

“I’ll find her,” David said. “You go on ahead. I’ll see you at the airfield. Gotta catch a look at your Lady before you leave!” 

He ran out and Emma stood, seeing no reason to drag this out any longer. 

**o o o**

Emma stood next to her airplane on the long field that served as a runway, looking around at all the faces surrounding her. She couldn’t remember ever being hugged by so many people. Even Leroy, the grumpiest little man she had ever met had pulled her in and had clapped her back with a whispered. “Don’t worry, sister, everything’s gonna be jake.” 

Everybody who’d met her over the course of her stay, it seemed, had made their way to the airfield. Emma knew it was mostly due to the still unusual sight of seein a woman pilot and her plane, but still … everybody had shown up. 

Everybody but Regina. 

She bit back tears of anger and disappointment as she said goodbye to a few stragglers. Then David stood in front of her, holding out his arms for a hug. She sank into him, the closest connection she had to Regina, and let herself cry at the sudden feeling of inadequacy that rushed her body. 

“She’s not coming, is she?” Emma asked after long moments, but it wasn’t really a question. “Why can’t she say goodbye? Am I not worth it?” 

“You know better.” David shook his head. “She can’t, Emma,” he replied softly. “This is killing her enough as it is, and she can’t go through that, not here, not in front of all these people.” He paused. “She said you said your goodbyes last night.” 

“If that’s what you want to call it,” Emma sighed against his shoulder. It’s not that she couldn’t understand Regina, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t disappointed. She had not expected this and wondered why not. She knew Regina was a private person who wouldn’t want to share her pain with the people she was now effectively leading. And breaking down in front of your constituents was something she could never see Regina doing. 

“I have to go,” she told David. Marco had already left in the truck, which was driven by a young man called Sean who hadn’t minded helping Marco out by driving him back to Iowa. 

David let her go and took a step back so he was standing next to Leroy, a respectable distance from the airplane. 

“Goodbye, everyone,” Emma called out as she stepped onto the wing of her plane. 

“Abyssinia,” Leroy shouted back, predictably. 

Emma chuckled. She would even miss the grumpy drunk with the colorful language. 

**o o o**

David watched as Emma climbed into the cockpit and started the engine. He watched as the airplane sped up and took off, not surprised when he saw the short wing wiggle that signaled Emma’s final goodbye. 

Then the airplane took a sharp turn, heading straight for Storybrooke, and David known he had been wrong. 

This was going to be her final goodbye. 

**o o o**

Regina sat at her desk, staring unseeingly out of the window. She wasn’t proud of herself nor did she like herself very much right now, but that didn’t change anything. She hadn’t been able to bear that thought of saying goodbye to Emma in front of everyone, so she had done it all through the night, with every touch, every whispered word, and finally with a last kiss to Emma’s forehead as she had sneaked out before dawn, feeling like a thief in the night. 

She felt like a coward and hoped fervently that one day Emma could forgive her. She checked the clock on the wall for the hundredth time that morning, wondering if Emma had already left. She had sent David away when he’d come looking for her like she had known he would, and he had understood her without too many words. He hadn’t even judged her or had mentioned her red-rimmed eyes and teary face. 

Regina’s whole body jerked as she heard the sound of an airplane coming closer. She rushed to the window and pressed close to it, staring at the sky. There she was, the Lady, the airplane that carried the woman she loved. She watched as Emma flew two circles over Storybrooke as if looking for something … _someone_ , then finally took off into the distance. 

When Regina couldn’t hear the engine any longer, she sank down onto the floor, arms wrapped tightly around her knees. “There goes my heart,” she whispered before dissolving into sobs. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Annotations:**  
>  gams — legs (especially a woman’s)  
> pins — legs  
> sap — idiot, fool  
> all wet — no good  
> bindle stiff — itinerant wanderer, hobo  
> sockdollager — a knockout punch, something that has great impact  
> bearcat — feisty woman  
> jake — okay, fine  
> Abyssinia — I’ll be seeing you
> 
> Bibendum, a.k.a. the _Michelin Man_ , has been around since 1894 and is one of the oldest trademarks in the world.
> 
> _There Goes My Heart_ was written by Benny Davis and Abner Silver.


	21. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: Not my characters. I'm just taking them off the shelf to play with them for a bit. I promise to put them back when I'm done with them. :)
> 
> A/N: Well, this is it. Some might say "finally" with a breath of relief but I'm sad to see this AU go. I had a lot of fun writing this story and delving into two of my great loves with it (language and history), and I'm glad for every comment or review that let me know that the little factoids I sprinkled liberally over this story were appreciated. 
> 
> A/N: I hope this epilogue makes up for the last chapter. ;-)

**Epilogue**

**August 31st, 1934**

Granny watched from behind the counter as Regina sat in her regular booth, enjoying a strong cup of coffee after lunch and reading through some paperwork. She smiled at the familiar sight, even though the smile was a little sad around the edges because of the melancholy emanating from their mayor. They’d even had an election to make it all official, and Regina had been voted into office by an overwhelming majority. 

_Regina Mills, mayor of Storybrooke, Maine._

Granny liked how that sounded in her ears, and she patted herself on the back for the millionth time for persuading Regina to stay and take over. _If only it hadn't cost her the woman she loved._ Granny checked the big clock over the door and counted down under her breath. _And here we go,_ she thought, as their sheriff, David Nolan, and his new wife entered the diner, all aglow from still being in their honeymoon phase. 

David and Mary-Margaret waved to Regina, who took one look at the mousy teacher and winced. Granny sighed. Regina really couldn't stand the new Mrs. Nolan and Granny still remembered the day in early June when Regina had stormed into the diner with a fierce look on her face, growling "I just saw her talking to a squirrel in the park!" before disappearing into her room. 

The same room she had shared with Emma before she had left. The room Regina had stayed in until Gold’s mansion had been renovated and, on Granny’s strict orders, fumigated. And even then Granny had only let her go with great reluctance. 

“Everything ready for tonight?” David asked, greeting Regina with a large smile. He was never going to give up hope that Regina would get over her dislike of his bride, and they could got back to being good friends again. 

Regina looked up from her coffee. “Yes,” she replied with a satisfied smile. “Just finishing up my work for the day, and then I’ll head over to the club to get ready.” She ignored Mary-Margaret as she continued. “Will I see you there?” 

“Of course. We can’t wait to see you back on stage.” He chuckled. “Too bad the sheriff can’t moonlight as a bartender …” 

“If the mayor can sing, I’m sure the sheriff could hand out drinks … you just have found better things to do,” Regina said with a smile. “But I have no doubts my new bartender is going to be more than adequate.” 

Granny smiled when she heard her friend’s words. She knew Ruby would be just as good behind the bar at the Queen's Club as she was behind the counter or waiting tables in the diner, but it made her chest swell with warmth that Regina sounded so sure of that as well. 

Ruby and Granny had both decided that they’d leave the diner in the hands of the new second waitress, Ashley, while they went to the club on those nights when it was open, which would mostly be Fridays and Saturdays. They were a small town that didn't really need a full-time night club, and neither of them wanted too many outsiders to come in. 

To Storybrooke, their new mayor who could sing and scat with the best of them, was their very precious secret, and one they definitely intended to keep to themselves. Which of course meant that they'd have to keep Mary Margaret Nolan from singing about it to the busybodies from Rockland and Wellport in her Sunday school knitting circle. 

Granny stood silently as Regina drained the last of her coffee while David and his wife found a seat at a different table. She sighed once more, deeply unhappy about the rift between Regina and David, which wasn't really between the two of them at all, and had more to do with the fact that Mary Margaret clung to David like a limpet whenever they left the house. If Granny had to place a bet, she'd wager that Regina missed her old friend's company just as much as he missed hers. 

Regina stood and pulled together her files but Granny stopped her before she could leave. "When should we come over tonight?" 

Regina thought for a moment. "Ruby should be there two hours before opening to make sure everything’s the way she wants it to be, I guess," she replied with a smile. Then she gave Granny a shrewd look. "But I already talked to her about this, so why don't you tell me what it really is that you want to know? You've been a little strange for days now … Are you all right?” 

Granny chuckled. "Can't get anything past you, can I?" _If only you knew, my dear friend._ "I think I'm just nervous.” _In more ways than you could think._

Regina seemed to accept that explanation easily. "No need to be, Granny. It's going to be a fun night." 

Regina turned and left, not allowing Granny to comment on the emptiness of her words and eyes. 

**o o o**

Regina sat in the small apartment above the club that had been converted into a spacious dressing room for her and everyone else who worked there. It was late afternoon and everything was ready for the grand re-opening. 

It should have been a happy day for her. Everything about her life these days was good. She had good friends, even if one of them married an insufferable idiot, and even something akin to family. But the truth was that she wasn’t happy, and doubted her decision to stay in Storybrooke every single day. That brief happiness she had felt with Emma had seemingly ruined what she would have considered happiness before. 

Now she just missed Emma every second of every day. 

She thought back over the past few months, something she often did in moments like this despite knowing it would only make her feel worse. In the beginning, the pain had been acute, a stab every time someone mentioned Emma … and somebody _always_ managed to mention Emma in her presence. The only people who never did were Granny and David. 

It had taken Emma a week after her departure to get over the fact that Regina hadn’t been there to say goodbye. She had called then, desperate for Regina’s voice, but they had only been able to talk for a few minutes before they both couldn’t get any words out any more. 

They had written to each other. Regina wrote long letters with details of her life in Storybrooke but not too many words about her feelings which she couldn’t seem to commit to paper. Emma wrote back, sending short, quirky notes about flights and mishaps, but hardly anything about her life in Iowa. Emma mentioned her feelings even less than Regina did. 

About a month into their separation Emma had shown up in Storybrooke because she just couldn’t take it anymore. She had walked into the diner, grabbed Regina by the hand and had just dragged her off to the room she still considered theirs. She had woken up that morning in Iowa after dreaming of Regina and hadn’t been able to take another day without touching her, so she’d readied the Lady and had flown off. They’d made love for hours, reveling in each other’s touch, but it had also reopened the wound of their separation, which had barely scabbed over. 

In the morning, they had clung to each other, not wanting to let go, but knowing they’d have to, once again. This time, Regina drove Emma out to the airfield and watched her leave, while fighting the urge to just board the airplane with her. 

Later that day Regina had written Emma a letter, asking her not to do that again. Emma couldn’t even blame her for that because she herself was suffering the pains of their separation anew, and it almost felt worse than before. 

After that, things subtly changed, and Regina still didn’t know what happened. Emma’s letters came less regularly, and they contained even less of what Emma was doing each day. Granny assured her that Emma was just busy with their company, helping Marco build a new airplane, and David echoed that. Regina hoped it was true, but she couldn’t help but wonder if their love was slowly being eaten by the distance. There was no talk of their deal anymore either, and neither mentioned it. 

Now Regina was sitting here, getting ready for her big night, and wondered what Emma was doing tonight. She hadn’t heard from her at all in three weeks, but her last letter had confirmed what Granny had told her: Emma and Marco had to get a new airplane designed for a customer, and it was a big order. Once that was done, she’d have more time again, and that was what Regina clung to, but it was hard not to feel the sharp sting of rejection. 

Regina had coped with the separation as well as she possibly could by jumping head first into her work. By day, she took care of her mayoral duties, and during the evenings she made sure the club was going to be ready for its opening on time, involving herself in every small detail. And between those two things, she caught some sleep or, as Granny called it, cat naps of a couple of hours here and there. She hadn’t slept right since before Emma had left. 

A knock on the door pulled Regina from her thoughts. Ruby’s head poked around the corner and Regina gave her a warm smile. “Just wanted to let you know I’m here now,” her new bartender announced cheerfully. “Everything’s ready downstairs. Can I help you with anything up here, Boss?” 

Regina chuckled, glad for the distraction. “You can bring me a nice hooker of bourbon, Ruby, and then you can help me pick something to wear tonight.” 

Ruby gave her a bright smile. “Be right back.” 

**o o o**

Emma cursed loudly as the heavy box in her hand threatened to slip for the third time in as many minutes, leaving her with yet another tiny splinter in her hand. She quickly shuffled the final few steps to the airplane and heaved the box into the small cargo hold with a loud groan. 

“That was the last one,” Marco said from behind her. “The rest is in the truck.” He studied Emma’s tired posture, her sad face, and wondered if he had ever seen her this broken. No, he decided, she hadn’t even looked this bad when he’d first found her walking along the highway out of Chicago. This needed to end, and he sent up a prayer to Saint Thérèse, hoping that it wasn’t too late to fix this mistake. 

Emma sagged against the airplane. “I know,” she replied wearily. “I’m going to freshen up a little before I take off.” She strolled slowly towards their house and stopped at the water pump in the front yard, getting it going with a few heavy pumps. 

“I’m heading out,” Marco yelled to her and received a short wave from Emma in return. “Make sure to get those tools there in one piece!” 

Emma looked up to glare at him, but didn’t say anything. Marco climbed into his pickup truck and rattled down their long driveway, thoughts already focused on the long drive and what awaited him at his destination. 

Emma splashed cold water on her face, trying to feel as awake as possible for her flight, but her thoughts were somewhere else, just like always. She sent a thought to the woman she missed more than she could have believed possible, then climbed into her airplane. 

As soon as she was in the air, she allowed herself a hopeful smile. 

**o o o**

The club was full to bursting on this opening night but Ruby handled all orders with aplomb. She checked the pocket watch that was strapped to her belt and gave a sign to Granny across the room. Granny gave her a short wave and disappeared through a side door. Ruby gave another sign to Leroy, who got up from his chair at once to go upstairs and get Regina, while Ruby poured a dirty martini for Belle French, smiling softly. “Good luck tonight, Belle,” she said with a wink, glad to see her old high school friend out and about. She received a shy smile back. 

Tonight was going to be interesting. 

**o o o**

Regina checked her reflection in the mirror and wondered not for the first time why Ruby had practically insisted on her wearing a tuxedo tonight. She had been all set to wear one of her new dresses but Ruby had smiled enigmatically and had told her that it would be good luck to wear something similar to the last time she had sung in the club. 

Slightly confused at Ruby’s insistence, Regina had shrugged and put on one of her new tuxedos. She wasn’t exactly sure why but she had taken extra care with her hair and make-up, too, and it had appeased the fluttering in her stomach a little. There was a kind of nervous energy around the club tonight that she hadn’t felt in a long time and she decided to enjoy herself as much as she could. 

“Boss, it’s time,” Leroy’s voice came through the door. 

“Thank you, Leroy. I’m coming.” 

Leroy opened the door and poked his head in, giving her the up-and-down. “Wow, you look snazzy, boss. You’re gonna rock he—… everyone’s socks off tonight.” He blushed and disappeared, leaving behind a frowning Regina. 

Was it her or was _everyone_ around her acting strange today? 

**o o o**

Granny had decided unanimously that she would be the one to introduce Regina and officially open the club, and nobody had dared to contradict her. David had shaken his head with a small smile, and Regina had just hugged her, and so it came that Granny now stood in front of half the town in her brand new black evening gown, clearing her throat loudly into the microphone. 

“Ladies and gentlemen, hats and cats,” she said once the excited chatter around the club had quieted down considerably. A sign from Leroy from behind the curtain told her she could continue. “Welcome to the Queen’s Club.” A smattering of applause. “Ever since it was burned down by Gold, we all missed this wonderful den of hooch and jazz … oh, wait a second … this was a _tea_ salon wasn’t it?” She winked at the people at the table in front of her and basked in the laughter. “Well, nowadays we can all get out the giggle water from under the bar and dip our bills openly again.” More cheers from the tables and many raised glasses. 

“And as for the jazz, ladies and gentlemen, we have that back as well.” Granny made a dramatic pause. “You wanted to see your queen? Here she is!” 

**o o o**

Ruby disappeared through a side door while the club’s lights were still down for Regina’s big entrance, and smiled when she saw the person waiting outside. “You can come in now,” she whispered with a smile. “I saved you a seat at the bar.” 

“Can she see me?” 

“Not unless you want her to.” 

**o o o**

Regina waited until the applause had died down a little before she started on the first song. They had decided beforehand that she would ease them all into the evening with a bit of a cappella singing while her new band members got over their nerves. 

She smiled with her eyes closed as she sang the first few lines, half listening to the noise of the club, half to the rustling behind her that told her that Archie, Mike, and Belle were getting ready to join in. They had practiced together a lot over the summer to get ready, and Regina felt confident that everything would go nicely. Archie had been at the box for her before, but it had come as a pleasant surprise to realize that Mike Tillman was not just a good mechanic but also a nobby skin tickler, and that Belle was more than decent with the dog house. 

Regina slowly opened her eyes as her band joined in with almost perfect timing, and her shoulders lost some of their tension. _This was good,_ she thought. _This was going to be a good night._

They finished _Blue Moon_ and segued into _Stars Fell On Alabama_ when Regina first realized that there seemed to be something going on in the club. She couldn’t see farther than the first couple of tables due to the lights shining in her eyes, but it seemed as if a lot of people were just as interested in the back of the club than they were in her. _Well, must be Ruby and the drinks she’s pouring,_ Regina thought as she continued with their planned set list. 

**o o o**

Regina only sang for a good hour, as had been the plan, so she and her band members could enjoy the opening as well. She was about to tell the audience so when there was a cat call from somewhere off to the side. 

“Sing the _Morocco_ song!” the voice called. “Do the Dietrich again!” 

_Granny,_ Regina thought with a fond smile. _Wonder why she wants that particular song. I guess that’s why Ruby wanted me to wear the tux tonight._ “The _Morocco_ song?” she asked into the microphone and was surprised by the wave of calls and applause from everybody in the house. “All right,” she agreed with a shrug. “I have no idea why you want that song in particular, but I can certainly sing it for you.” 

She looked back at her band. They hadn’t worked on this song, but for some reason they all had the notes handy and started playing the intro immediately. Regina raised an eyebrow, beginning to wonder what was going in earnest now. Her heart started beating harder than it had all evening as her mind went back to the last time she had sung this song. The night of the fire, the night she had first kissed Emma at the end of this very song. She closed her eyes and thought of Emma, while her voice rang through the suddenly silent club. 

About halfway through the song, Granny gave Leroy a small sign and he went off immediately and, one after one, switched on more lights until the whole club was visible from the stage. 

At the back of the club, a woman got up from her seat on wobbly legs, downed a drink that was handed to her by Ruby, and slowly started making her way towards the stage. 

Regina noticed the difference in ambient light despite still having her eyes closed. She refused to open them, not sure what was going on, but not yet willing to find out. She made it to the last couple of lines of the song before she opened her eyes and blinked a few times to make sure she was seeing correctly. 

There, in the middle of the club, stood Emma Swan, wearing the same dress Regina had given her the night of the fire. 

Regina’s voice broke at the sight, and the final words of the song remained unsung. “You …” 

“Hello, Regina,” Emma whispered, her voice not stable enough for more, but the club was so quiet that Regina heard it anyway. 

“What are you doing here?” Regina sounded hoarse from more than just singing. 

When neither of the women made a move toward the other, Granny silently walked onto the stage and gave Regina a light nudge. “Go on, Regina, go and kiss your girl,” she whispered, and when Regina still didn’t budge, she gave her a light push that finally propelled Regina down the two steps off the stage and toward Emma. 

Belle accentuated every step she took with a cheeky pull on her strings, and Mike and Archie joined in until they were jamming a little to take the focus off their band leader. It didn’t help much; all eyes remained fixed on the two women who were now standing only an arm’s length from each other. 

Suddenly there was a resounding _crack_ that broke the rhythm of the song the band was playing. Emma’s hand shot to her cheek, covering the burning spot where Regina had just slapped her. 

“This is for completely disappearing on me over the past month,” Regina growled. “I thought you’d forgotten me.” 

“Never,” Emma swore. “I was just really busy settling our affairs back home and getting everything ready.” 

“Getting everything ready?” Regina repeated. “Ready for what?” 

“Ready for the big move,” Emma replied softly. “Regina, Marco and I … we bought the airfield here in Storybrooke,” she explained. “I couldn’t take being away from you. It was killing me.” 

There was a tear running down Regina’s cheek, completely unnoticed by the woman. Emma, however, tenderly brushed it away with her fingertips. Regina reached up and held Emma’s wrist. “Do you mean that?” she asked, needing to hear it again. “You’re staying this time?” 

Emma could only nod as her free hand moved a lock of hair behind Regina’s ear in a gesture that echoed what Regina had done in a similar situation almost half a year before. “I’m here to stay,” Emma confirmed. “If you still want me.” 

In reply, Regina pulled Emma closer and pressed their mouths together in a soft, gentle, too short kiss, despite being uncomfortably aware of their audience. Emma kissed back immediately, letting out a soft moan, part relief, part pure, unadulterated feeling as she tried to deepen the kiss. Her eyes remained closed when they parted after a long moment, only blinking open when the sounds of the club registered in her brain again. 

Regina thought the blush on Emma’s face in reaction to remembering they had an audience was cute, but all she wanted now was to take Emma away from here. “Come home with me?” she whispered in Emma’s ear, so as not to be overheard. There was only so much she was willing to share with the citizens of Storybrooke. 

“Am I forgiven then?” Emma asked equally as low. 

“I’ll tell you when we have less company.” 

Emma smiled against the side of Regina’s face. “I’m much more of an action-oriented gal,” she husked. “I think you should show me.” 

Regina pulled back enough to meet Emma’s eyes, and the mix of love and desire in the dark eyes made Emma swallow hard. “Don’t worry, Miss Swan,” Regina said, barely audible even to Emma. “This will be a show and tell.” 

Emma’s nostrils flared as she bit back another low moan and took a step back from Regina, holding out her arm. Regina took it without hesitation and the two women walked swiftly towards the exit. 

“Well, now that the queen is leaving, I guess we can start the party,” Granny called out, as much to the guests as to Regina. 

Regina turned around at the door. “The next round is on me, everyone. Be my guests and enjoy your night.” Then she met Granny’s eyes across the club and mouthed, “Thank you”, knowing instinctively that her friend had a huge hand in planning this surprise for her. 

“You’re welcome,” Granny whispered to Regina’s back. Then she walked to the bar to let Ruby pour her a good stiff drink. She deserved it. 

**o o o**

Outside, Emma stopped Regina for another kiss. “I love you,” she whispered against Regina’s lips before diving in once more for another kiss, not holding back this time. 

“I love you too,” Regina breathed when they parted again. Then she gave Emma her most brilliant smile. “I still can’t believe you’re here to stay.” 

“I can’t believe I stayed away that long,” Emma replied ruefully. “Besides, you still owe me a riding lesson.” 

“I’ll send for my horses tomorrow,” Regina promised. Then she took a long look at Emma in the moonlight. “You look beautiful in my dress … I especially appreciate the slight burn marks on the side.” 

Emma chuckled. “It brought me luck the last time I wore it,” she explained with a half-shrug. 

“Does that mean I can expect you to share my dresses from now on?” 

“Hell no,” Emma replied. “Your tuxedoes, however …” 

They walked to Regina’s house arm in arm, talking softly, pausing for kisses every so often, dreaming of a future, while inside the Queen’s Club Granny, Ruby, Leroy, and David proceeded to toast each other and their plan long into the night. 

**The End**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Annotations:  
> up-and-down — a look  
> snazzy — very good  
> a hooker of bourbon — a stiff shot of bourbon  
> hats and cats — male and female jazz fans  
> giggle water — alcohol  
> dip the bill — have a drink  
> box — piano  
> skin tickler — drummer  
> dog house — string bass
> 
> Thérèse of Lisieux is the patron saint of pilots. 
> 
> In my head Marco drives a 1929 Pontiac Pickup.
> 
> The Volstead Act is the informal name for the National Prohibition Act of 1919, the law that enacted the prohibition in the U.S.


End file.
